Expiremental comparison to theory

As mentioned earlier the potato undergoes a structural change when it is heated up. The amylose bound up in a crystalline structure is released during heating. Because the amylose reacts with iodine an easy way of monitoring this reaction is by treating a cross section of the potato with a diluted iodine solution. Distinctive rings spread further and further in towards the center of the potato during baking.


8 minutes at 400° F	12 minutes at 400° F	16 minutes at 400° F

With the reaction kinetics known, we can graph the expiremental vs theoretical values. As one can see below, the theoretical model is only satisfactory for oven temperatures above 350 F. The reason the model for the reaction kinetics of the structural breakdown fails at lower temperatures probably has to do with the heat transfer properties of the potato. A certain oven temperature is in other words needed for the heat to distribute properly in the potato.

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