It is hypothesized that the level and/or structure (particularly the methylation level) of pectins play a major role on the cooking behaviour of RTBs. Hence the need for a medium throughput procedure to assess pectin level and/or structure. Different extraction procedures (water, addition of Ca++, from 30 to 70°C, from 15 to 120 min, pH 10, EDTA) of pectins have been tested, and released galacturonic acid assessed by colorimetric reaction with meta-hydroxydiphenyl (MHDP) on 6 cassava samples selected for their large range of cooking behaviour. Based on the results, non-methoxylated pectins had a great impact on cooking behaviour of the 6 cassava samples. A relatively rapid procedure of extraction and assessment of methoxylated (pH 10) and non-methoxylated (EDTA 0.05 M) pectins can be used to predict cooking behaviour. A procedure using a continuous flow analyser has been developed for rapid analysis of extracted galacturonic acid. The next step is to analyse a large number of cassava samples and to test the procedures on other RTBs of the project (yam, sweet potato, and banana).