AbstractIn experiments where the interaction of starch and cell size were kept to a minimum by taking identical material for each experiment (disks from the same tuber), the loss of compressive strength of potato tissue on cooking was found to be related to the release of pectic substances into the cooking liquor. This relationship was found to hold true whether large differences in compressive strength were produced by cooking the disks in water for varying lengths of time or by cooking disks in solutions of calcium or potassium chloride for fixed times. The release of starch into the cooking liquor was not related to loss of compressive strength when the results of a number of experiments from disks from the same tuber were compared.Increased cooking time, or the presence of potassium chloride in the cooking solution, reduced compressive strength and increased the amount of pectic substances released. The presence of calcium chloride had the reverse effect. It was not clear whether the effects of calcium chloride were due to calcium per se or the pH of the solutions after cooking, which were inversely related to calcium chloride concentration.
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