POTATO: A GOOD SOURCE OF CARBOHYDRATES

The major role of carbohydrates in nutrition is to provide energy. The complex carbohydrates present in potato are important to a healthy diet. Carbohydrates in potato are mostly found in the form of starch. On an average, potato contains 14% of starch on fresh weight basis. It provides most of the energy supplied by the potato. Sugars are the most basic carbohydrates, the building blocks of complex carbohydrates. Starch furnishes most of the energy supplied by the potato. Digestibility of this starch influences the energy value of the potato and hence also the bulk of potato which must be eaten to supply a given amount of energy. The digestibility of potato starch is low in raw state but improves considerably after cooking or processing. Sucrose, fructose and glucose are the main sugars in potato. Sugar quantity in potato influences the quality of processed potato products such as chips and French fries.

Carbohydrate content of raw potato vis-a-vis other plant foods (g per 100g edible portion)	Potato starch granule