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Spaceflight introduces the human body to extremes not normally experienced in daily life to supplement the body's natural protections for some of the negative effects; important nutrients must be included in an astronaut's diet. Therefore the objective of this study was to evaluate chemical properties (amylose/amylopectin, dietary fiber, sugars and vitamin C) in two processed and unprocessed hydroponic sweetpotato cultivars. In both cultivars dietary fiber ranged from 0.4% to 3%. Amylose/Amylopectin ratio in both cultivars ranged from 1/99% to 14/86%. Glucose and sucrose were the dominant sugars in both cultivars. Vitamin C was reduced 35-50% when processed.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Advanced Life Support (ALS) system has selected the sweetpotato as a candidate crop to be grown on long-term space missions. There is limited research regarding the production of sweetpotato bread. The objectives of this research were to: i) determine the chemical properties (moisture, loaf volume, and texture) of bread supplemented with different levels of sweetpotato flour (SPF); and ii) evaluate the structural properties of bread supplemented with different levels of SPF using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Bread formulations were supplemented with different levels of SPF, namely: 50% SPF to 50% whole-wheat flour (WWF); 55% SPF to 45% WWF; 60% SPF to 40% WWF; and 65% SPF to 35% WWF. The maximum % strain required to cut the breads into two pieces was used to indicate texture (firmness).