By Mariel Calderón, Analaura Gómez, Anayansi Escalante and Alberto Ordez
Although sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are often associated with home cooking and traditional desserts, they are actually an exceptionally rich source of bioactive compounds.
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes contain carotenoids and polyphenols, compounds associated with antioxidant activity, cellular protection, reduced inflammation, and immune health.
Carotenoids are natural pigments responsible for the yellow, orange, and reddish hues found in many plant-based foods, including sweet potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, and certain flowers, such as Mexican marigolds (cempasúchil).
One challenge, however, is that sweet potatoes have a relatively short shelf life, and much of their nutritional value can be lost during conventional processing.
The study Orange Sweet Potato Flour Production: Comparative Effects on Ultrasound, Drying, Storage, and Techno-Economic Assessment examines how to turn sweet potatoes into functional flour using high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) and controlled drying technologies.
What Are Functional Foods?
A functional food provides more than essential nutrients. It also contains components that may support specific bodily functions, promote well-being, or help reduce the risk of certain diseases as part of a balanced diet. These effects must be supported by scientific evidence and demonstrated at levels consistent with typical consumption.
In this study, ultrasound technology acts as a stress signal for sweet potatoes, activating their natural defense mechanisms and stimulating the production of antioxidants. This effect resulted in increases of up to 53.8% in certain antioxidant compounds, including total polyphenols, after storage.
The study also found that the process could be scaled up for industrial production and achieve significant economic feasibility [1].
These findings pave the way for a new generation of functional ingredients derived from widely available crops, with potential applications in baked goods, snacks, beverages, and specialty foods.
Researchers also found that combining sweet potato flour with brewer’s spent grain and other cereals can produce baked snacks with an improved nutritional and functional profile.
These products can provide dietary fiber, retain antioxidant compounds, help reduce agro-industrial waste, and meet the growing demand from consumers interested in health and sustainability. They may also create new business opportunities for the food industry.
Premium Ingredients at Industrial Scale
One of the biggest challenges in food research is that many ideas work at the laboratory scale but fail when production moves to larger facilities. That is why researchers need to evaluate different scenarios and process configurations to determine whether manufacturing these products is economically viable at the pilot or industrial scale.
Another study, Techno-Economic Feasibility of Functional Snacks from Brewer’s Spent Grain and Sweet Potato: A Simulation Study, found that production of a sweet potato flour-based snack could exceed 1,000 metric tons per year. The researchers also estimated equipment requirements and mapped out each stage of the production process. Their analysis projected investment payback periods of less than five years, potentially making the business attractive to investors in Mexico’s high-potential market [3].
This is particularly relevant because the market for healthy and functional snacks continues to grow rapidly.
Young consumers, athletes, older adults, and people interested in healthy lifestyles are increasingly looking for products made with more natural ingredients, higher fiber content, and additional health benefits.
Beyond developing flour or a snack, this research shows how traditional crops and agro-industrial byproducts can be transformed into functional foods that offer nutritional benefits, consumer appeal, and commercial potential.
Sweet potatoes, however, present their own challenges, particularly when it comes to maintaining their quality and preserving the compounds responsible for their nutritional value. After harvesting, they continue to respire and lose moisture. Physical damage and improper storage conditions can also encourage fungal growth and spoilage.
These changes affect their appearance, texture, and flavor, generate food waste, and can make them unsuitable for consumption. In addition, some of their components, such as vitamin C and natural pigments—carotenoids in orange varieties and anthocyanins in purple ones—can break down during storage or processing, depending on the conditions and variety.
This degradation can diminish their nutritional value and antioxidant properties, even when there are no visible signs of spoilage. Therefore, when developing sweet potato-based snacks, the challenge is to extend shelf life while preserving as much as possible of the compounds that make this crop nutritionally valuable.
Referencias
- Gómez-Cisneros, A.; Ordaz, A.; Santos-Zea, L.; Escalante-Aburto, A.; Ponce-Alquicira, E.; Calderón-Oliver, M. Orange Sweet Potato Flour Production: Comparative Effects on Ultrasound, Drying, Storage, and Techno-Economic Assessment. Applied Food Research 2025, 5
- Ordaz, A.; Gómez-Cisneros, A.; Escalante-Aburto, A.; Calderón-Oliver, M. Techno-Economic Feasibility of Functional Snacks from Brewer’s Spent Grain and Sweet Potato: A Simulation Study. Foods 2026, 15
Authors
Mariel Calderón Oliver. Research Professor affiliated with the Aging flagship project at the Health Research Hub, School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Toluca campus.
Analaura Gómez Cisneros. PhD candidate in Biotechnology at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Toluca campus.
Anayansi Escalante Aburto. Research Professor affiliated with the Healthy Foods Unit at the Institute for Obesity Research, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Toluca campus. She is also a science writer for TecScience.
Alberto Ordez Cortés. Research Professor affiliated with the Water 360 flagship project at the School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnológico de Monterrey, State of Mexico campus.
