Physicochemical properties of high amylose rice starches purified from Korean cultivars

The physicochemical and pasting properties of high amylose rice starches isolated using alkaline steeping method from different Korean rice cultivars, Goamy2 and Goamy, and from imported Thai rice were examined. The protein and lipid contents of the Goamy2 starch were higher than those of the other two starches. The amylose and total dietary fiber contents were ranged from 31.4 to 36.8% and from 6.3 to 8.6%, respectively. Total dietary fiber was positively correlated to amylose content. Water binding capacity was higher in the Goamy2 starch (172.2%) than in the Goamy and Thai rice starches (112.7–115.6%). The swelling power of the Goamy2 starch showed lower values, but its value at 95°C was similar to others because of its rapid increment at 85°C. The granular size of Goamy2 starch was widely distributed compared to those of others. The Goamy2 starch showed a high initial pasting temperature (92.0°C) and low breakdown and setback viscosities. The Goamy and Thai rice starch granules were polygonal‐shaped with A‐type crystals, whereas the Goamy2 starch granules were round‐shaped with B‐type crystals. Goamy and Goamy2 starches showed a single endotherm at 60.8 and 76.0°C for peak temperature and 10.0 and 11.5 J/g for gelatinization enthalpies, respectively. The Thai rice starch presented an endotherm with a shoulder peak at 68.3°C (75.3°C for the main peak) and a gelatinization enthalpy of 12.4 J/g.     

Chemical and Physical Properties of Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) Starch

Chemical and physical properties of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa var. ‘Hayward’) starch were studied. Kiwifruit starch granules were compound, irregular or dome‐shaped with diameters predominantly 4–5 µm or 7–9 µm. Kiwifruit starch exhibited B‐type X‐ray diffraction pattern, an apparent amylose content of 43.1% and absolute amylose content of 18.8%. Kiwifruit amylopectins, relative to other starches, had low weight‐average molecular weight (7.4×10⁷), and gyration radius (200 nm). Average amylopectin branch chain‐length was long (DP 28.6). Onset and peak gelatinization temperatures were 68.9°C and 73.0°C, respectively, and gelatinization enthalpy was high (18.5 J/g). Amylose‐lipid thermal transition was observed. Starch retrograded for 7 d at 4°C had a very high peak melting temperature (60.7°C). Peak (250 RVU), final (238 RVU) and setback (94 RVU) viscosity of 8% kiwifruit starch paste was high relative to other starches and pasting temperature (69.7°C) was marginally higher than onset gelatinization temperature. High paste viscosities and low pasting temperature could give kiwifruit starch some advantages over many cereal starches.     

Effect of Acid‐Methanol Treatment on the Physicochemical and Structural Characteristics of Cassava and Maize Starches

Physicochemical, structural and morphological characteristics of maize and cassava starches treated with 0.36% concentrated HCl in anhydrous methanol at 54ºC for 1–8 h were analyzed and compared. Average yield of modified starch was about 97% for both starches. The solubility of the acid‐methanol treated starches increased with temperature and after 3 h of treatment reached 93% for maize starch and 97% for cassava starch at 95ºC. After 8 h of treatment, the average size of the cassava starch granules decreased from 14.9 to 11.1 µm. The action of acid‐methanol on the maize starch was more subtle, reducing the granule average size from 11.8 to 11.3 µm. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the granule surfaces were rough and exfoliated after treatment suggesting exocorrosion that was more evident for cassava starch. From GPC, it was noted that amylose and amylopectin were partially degraded during treatment. Starch crystallinity gradually increased with duration of treatment. The amylose content decreased from 21.4 to 18.8% and from 26.3 to 23.0% and the intrinsic viscosity was reduced from 2.36 to 0.21 and from 1.85 to 0.04 for cassava and maize starches, respectively. The gelatinization temperatures increased whereas pasting viscosities decreased with reaction time, especially for cassava starch. These results suggested that the attack of acid‐methanol, which was more effective on cassava starch granules, occurred preferentially in the amorphous areas located in the granule periphery and composed of amylose and amylopectin.     

Structure-viscosity relationships for starches from different rice varieties during heating

The effects of starch particle size and leached amylose on the viscosity of rice starch dispersions and changes of short-range structure and amylose content in starch granules of different rice varieties during heating were investigated. It was found that starch granule swelling increased rice starch dispersion viscosity during heating. The viscosities of the starch dispersions during heating were principally dependent on granular volume fraction and independent of starch variety. A distinct correlation between the amount of leached amylose and swelling of starch granules was also found. High initial amylose concentrations in starch granules reduced swelling during heating, thereby reducing rice dispersion viscosities. Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy indicated that the loss of short-range order was significant when the temperature reached the pasting onset temperature. The short-range order of waxy and medium grain rice starches was higher than that of long grain rice starches before gelatinization. The loss of order of waxy and medium grain rice starches was greater than that of long grain rice starches during heating, which was due to the presence of amylose, restraining the swelling and disruption of starch granules during heating.     

Effects of Cationization on Functional Properties of Pea and Corn Starches

Amylography, scanning electron microscopy and storage tests demonstrated that native pea starches were highly resistant to granule disintegration during heating in dilute slurries, resulting in low hot paste viscosity, high retrogradation and syneresis. Cationization at degrees of substitution of 0.02 to 0.05 reduced the pasting and gelatinization temperatures, increased peak viscosities and set-back on cooling but eliminated syneresis after storage at 4°C and − 15°C. The principal effects of cationization were to promote rapid granule dispersion at low pasting temperatures, yielding a molecular dispersion of amylose and amylopectin on heating to 95°C. On cooling, the gel structures were firm and the cationic groups controlled the realignment of starch chains during low temperature storage.     

In situ gelatinization of starch using hot stage microscopy

Starch gelatinization is important in food processing and industrial use. Granule swelling and gelatinization temperature of 11 starches from different plants were investigated in situ using hot stage microscopy during heating. The amylose content, swelling power, pasting temperature and thermal property of these starches were also measured. The results showed that hot stage microscopy was suitable for measuring granule swelling and the gelatinization temperature of starch during heating. The sectional area swelling percentage of starch granules measured using hot stage microscopy was significantly positively correlated with the swelling power. The gelatinization temperature measured using hot stage microscopy was significantly positively correlated with the pasting temperature and with the thermal property for all 11 starches. For rice starches with the same crystallinity and similar size, the gelatinization temperature was negatively correlated with the amylose content and positively correlated with the swelling power and the sectional area swelling percentage at 95°C.     

Microstructural and physicochemical properties of heat-moisture treated waxy and normal starches

Starches from normal rice (21.72% amylose), waxy rice (1.64% amylose), normal corn (25.19% amylose), waxy corn (2.06% amylose), normal potato (28.97% amylose) and waxy potato (3.92% amylose) were heat-treated at 100 °C for 16 h at a moisture content of 25%. The effect of heat-moisture treatment (HMT) on morphology, structure, and physicochemical properties of those starches was investigated. The HMT did not change the size, shape, and surface characteristics of corn and potato starch granules, while surface change/partial gelatinization was found on the granules of rice starches. The X-ray diffraction pattern of normal and waxy potato starches was shifted from B- to C-type by HMT. The crystallinity of the starch samples, except waxy potato starch decreased on HMT. The viscosity profiles changed significantly with HMT. The treated starches, except the waxy potato starch, had higher pasting temperature and lower viscosity. The differences in viscosity values before and after HMT were more pronounced in normal starches than in waxy starches, whereas changes in the pasting temperature showed the reverse (waxy > normal). Shifts of the gelatinization temperature to higher values and gelatinization enthalpy to lower values as well as biphasic endotherms were found in treated starches. HMT increased enzyme digestibility of treated starches (except waxy corn starch); i.e., rapidly and slowly digestible starches increased, but resistant starch decreased. Although there was no absolute consistency on the data obtained from the three pairs of waxy and normal starches, in most cases the effects of HMT on normal starches were more pronounced than the corresponding waxy starches.     

Effect of cooking time and ingredients on the performance of different starches in white sauces

The effect of white sauce ingredients and increased cooking time at 90 °C on the degree of gelatinization of corn, waxy corn, rice, potato and modified waxy corn starches was studied. The changes in pasting properties, linear viscoelastic properties, and microstructure were determined. In all the native starches in water, a longer cooking time at 90 °C caused greater starch granule swelling and more leaching of solubilized starch polymers into the intergranular space. These effects were more noticeable in the waxy corn and potato starches. The potato starch was the most affected, with complete disruption of the starch granules after 300 s at 90 °C. The microstructural changes which transformed a system characterized by starch granules dispersed in a continuous phase (amylose/amylopectin matrix) into a system with an increase in the continuous phase and a decrease in starch granules were associated with a decrease in system viscoelasticity. The elastic moduli were higher in the sauce than in the starch in water system. However, with the exception of potato starch, the white sauce showed lower viscoelasticity than the starch in water system. The white sauce ingredients decreased the effect of cooking time on the starch gelatinization process, particularly in potato starch.     

Physicochemical and Gelatinization Properties of Starches Separated from Various Rice Cultivars

Morphological, viscoelastic, hydration, pasting, and thermal properties of starches separated from 10 different rice cultivars were investigated. Upon gelatinization, the G′ values of the rice starch pastes ranged from 37.4 to 2057 Pa at 25 °C, and remarkably, the magnitude depended on the starch varieties. The rheological behavior during gelatinization upon heating brought out differences in onset in G′ and degree of steepness. The cultivar with high amylose content (Goami) showed the lowest critical strain (γ_c), whereas the cultivars with low amylose content (Boseokchal and Shinseonchal) possessed the highest γ_c. The amylose content in rice starches affected their pasting properties; the sample possessing the highest amylose content showed the highest final viscosity and setback value, whereas waxy starch samples displayed low final viscosity and setback value. The onset gelatinization temperatures of the starches from 10 rice cultivars ranged between 57.9 and 64.4 °C. The amylose content was fairly correlated to hydration and pasting properties of rice starches but did not correlate well with viscoelastic and thermal characteristics. The combined analysis of hydration, pasting, viscoelastic, and thermal data of the rice starches is useful in fully understanding their behavior and in addressing the processability for food applications.     

Physicochemical Properties of Pin Oak (Quercus palustris Muenchh.) Acorn Starch

Physicochemical properties of acorn (Quercus palustris) starch were studied. Acorn starch granules were spherical or ovoid, with diameters ranging from 3–17 μm. Acorn starch exhibited A‐type X‐ray diffraction pattern, an apparent amylose content of 43.4% and absolute amylose content of 31.4%. Relative to other A‐type starches, acorn amylopectin had a comparable weight‐average molar mass (3.9×10⁸ g/mol), gyration radius (288 nm) and density (16.3 g mol⁻¹nm⁻³). Average amylopectin branch chain‐length corresponded to DP 25.5. Onset gelatinization temperature was 65.0°C and peak gelatinization temperature was considerably higher (73.7°C). The enthalpy change of gelatinization was very high compared to non‐mutant starches (20.8 J/g). An amylose‐lipid thermal transition was not observed. Starch retrograded for 7 d at 4°C had very high peak melting temperature (54.2°C) relative to other A‐type starches. Final (260 RVU) and setback (138 RVU) viscosity of an 8% acorn starch paste was high relative to other starches and pasting temperature was 71.5°C.     

Physicochemical Properties of Sweetpotato Starches with Different Gelatinization Temperatures

Physicochemical properties of five sweetpotato starches differing in gelatinization temperature were examined. The gelatinization temperature of Koganesengan starch, an ordinary cultivar of sweetpotato in Japan, was 73.6°C, whereas those of the other starches were measured to be 71.6°C for Kyukei 96162–1, 65.8°C for Kyushu No.127, 63.9°C for Kyukei 240, and 54.9°C for Quick Sweet. Some relationships of the primary structural properties with the gelatinization temperature have been found. As the gelatinization temperature decreased: i) the content of phosphate groups attached to the glucosyl residues decreased, ii) the amylose content, which was determined as difference in long chains of debranched original starch and of its amylopectin, decreased, iii) the proportion of unit chains with DP > 100 in the amylopectin fraction increased, iv) the proportion of unit chains with DP 6 to 10 in the amylopectin fraction increased, whereas that of unit chains with DP 12 to 24 decreased, v) the B‐type crystallinity of the starch granules was enhanced, and vi) the proportion of longer chains constituting each Nägeli amylodextrin increased. Moreover, it was found that thin pastes of the low temperature‐gelatinizing starches retrograded slower during cold storage than the ordinary starch. Among the starches, Quick Sweet starch granules, having the lowest gelatinization temperature, were digested rapidly by pancreatin.     

Changes in Starch Properties of Corn Tortillas during Storage

Starch properties of corn tortillas were characterized during storage. Tortillas were chopped into pieces, macerated with ethanol, centrifuged, extracted again with ethanol, centrifuged, dried, and ground into flour to dehydrate and stabilize starch. Water absorption and water solubility at 25°C, starch pasting properties, and amount and molecular weight of starch extracted at 95°C in water were quantified. Increased levels of soluble amylopectin and increased cold paste viscosity distinguished fresh (0, 0.5, and 1 h) from aged (120 h) tortillas. Water solubility at 25°C decreased continuously during storage; whereas, water absorption increased 0.5 h after baking and then decreased during storage. Rapid changes in starch properties were stabilized using the dehydration procedure and clearly distinguished by pasting viscosities and other methods. Measured starch properties were consistent with very rapid associations (retrogradation) of amylose and rapid associations of amylose and amylopectin yielding insoluble structures in corn tortillas. Retention of some starch crystal nuclei after baking facilitated starch associations that yielded rapid structural changes in corn tortillas.     

Physicochemical,Morphological, Thermal and Pasting Properties of Starches Isolated from Rice Cultivars Grown in India

Physicochemical, morphological, thermal, and pasting properties of starches, isolated from basmati (HBC-19 and Bas-370) and non-basmati (Jaya, a coarse cultivar; P-44 and HKR-120, the medium cultivars and Sharbati, fine cultivar) rice cultivars grown in India were studied. The amylose content of starches from different cultivars ranged from 2.25 (Jaya) to 22.21 g/100 g of starch (HBC-19). Jaya, HKR-120, and P-44 cultivars showed soft gel consistency as 84, 73, and 69 mm, respectively, whereas Sharbati, Bas-370 and HBC-19 cultivars showed medium gel consistency as 54, 53, and 58 mm, respectively. Swelling power (at 95°C) indicated a significant positive correlation with amylopectin content (r = 0.828, p < 0.05) and gel consistency (r = 0.983, p < 0.01). Turbidity had a highly significant positive correlation with solubility (r = 0.919, p < 0.01) and amylose content (r = 0.945, p < 0.01). Starch form Jaya cultivar showed the presence of smallest size granules (2.4–5.7 μm) with an average size of 3.96 μm, whereas Bas-370 showed the presence of largest size granules (3.3–6.7 μm) with an average size of 5.0 μm. The transition temperatures, enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔH_gel), peak height index (PHI) and gelatinization range were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The starch from Sharbati cultivar showed highest onset temperature (T_o), peak temperature (T_p), conclusion temperature (T_c), enthalpy of gelatinization and peak height index (PHI) of 68.8°C, 73.2°C, 79.0°C, 11.56 J/g and 2.63 respectively. Pasting temperature of rice starches varied from 68.9°C (Jaya) to 74.5°C (Sharbati). The peak viscosities observed were in the range of 2223 to 3297 cP, lowest for HBC-19 starch and highest for Jaya starch.     

Heat-moisture treatment effects on sweetpotato starches differing in amylose content

Sweetpotato starch from two genotypes, Taiwan (15.2% amylose) and 93-006 (28.5% amylose), were exposed to heat-moisture treatment (HMT) of 25% moisture at 110°C for various exposure times at ‘as-is’ (pH 6.5–6.7) and alkaline pH (pH 10) conditions. In both starch samples at ‘as-is’ pH, there was a shift from a Type A pasting profile (characterized by a high to moderate pasting peak, major breakdown after holding time at 95°C and low cold paste viscosity) to a Type C pasting profile (characterized by lack of a pasting peak and no breakdown, with high cold paste viscosity in 93-006; and a slight breakdown in Taiwan). With HMT at pH 10, the pasting peak viscosity was increased and low hot paste viscosities and high cold paste viscosities were observed. Under both pH conditions after HMT, there were marked increases in gelatinization temperatures and broadening of the DSC gelatinization endotherms, and considerable decreases in swelling volume and solubilities. Gel textures of HMT starch samples appeared to be related to amylose content. Taiwan starch gel had a marked increase in hardness and adhesiveness, while that of 93-006 did not show significant differences in hardness after HMT. Both starch samples showed a marked reduction in resilience, indicating a shift from a long stringy nature to short paste consistency. Starch gels exposed to HMT under alkaline conditions showed a high degree of syneresis.     

Impact of Annealing on the Physicochemical Properties of Unfermented Cassava Starch (“Polvilho Doce”)

Unfermented cassava starch (“polvilho doce”) was subject to annealing treatment at 50°C for 24, 48, 96, 120, 168 and 192 h, in 1:5 starch to water ratio. The annealing treatment changed the internal structure of “polvilho doce” at increasing treatment time. Peak viscosities decreased significantly, denoting that there was a decrease in leaching of amylose from the granules. The pasting temperatures were increased, setback and breakdown were reduced while hold and final viscosities increased, showing an improvement of the stability of the paste. Swelling power and solubility were reduced at all temperatures and the solubility at 55°C was zero after 120 h of treatment. The DSC data for T_o, T_p, T_c and ΔH increased and the gelatinization range was narrowed. The X‐ray diffractograms changed from C_A to A pattern (samples annealed for 48, 96, 120, 168 and 192 h), denoting an increase in organization of double helices of amylopectin. Annealing imparts to the samples some waxy starches characteristics which can be very useful in the food industry.     

Pea Starch Annealing: New Insights

Three different pea starches were annealed in excess water at 45 °C for 24 and 72 h, and the changes in their structure and functionality were determined. Annealing resulted in slightly irreversible swelling with leaching of some amylose molecules, which was accompanied by small changes in granular morphology and relative crystallinity, but significant changes in functionality such as decreased swelling power and starch solubility and increased thermal transition temperatures, enthalpy changes, pasting viscosities and in vitro digestibility. Annealing led to an increase in proportion of B-type polymorphs within C-type pea starches, which was explained as being due to a polymorphic transition from A to B. Annealing mainly acts on the amorphous regions of starch granules, leading to amylose leaching. The removal of amylose molecules can reduce the long-range forces within the granule and thereby weakening the overall granule structure and leading to significant changes to functional properties. This study showed that annealing is a mild but important physical modification of starch, which can be used as a pretreatment technique to tailor the starch functionality for specific industrial application.     

In vitro digestibility,pasting, and structural properties of starches from different cereals

Starches isolated from seven different cereals were evaluated for their composition, physicochemical, in vitro digestibility, structural, morphological, and pasting properties. The in vitro starch digestion rate and estimated glycemic index (GI) of cereal starches were evaluated along with the impact of cooking on starch digestion. The cooking of starch slurries increased the rapidly digestible starch content from a range of 34.7–54.4% to a range of 60.5–78.5%. On the basis of hydrolysis index, the GI ranged from 83.6 to 91.8 and after cooking it increased from 95.1 to 98.6 for different cereal starches. Both the swelling power and solubility showed an increasing trend with rising temperature. Paste clarity of starches negatively correlated with fat content. The amylose content of various starches ranged from 17.7 to 24.7% and was negatively correlated to crystalline index (r = -0.975, p ≤ 0.05). XRD pattern revealed A-type pattern of crystalline starch, where crystallinity index ranging between 28.2 to 44.9%. FTIR revealed slight differences among chemical bonding of starches from different cereals. From scanning electron micrograph observations, wheat and barley starch granules proved smoother as compared to other cereal granules. Barley contained the highest (27.5 µm) and rice had the lowest (10.2 µm) size starch granules. The pasting properties were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different for different cereal starches. Peak, breakdown, and final viscosities were the highest for maize starch (1725, 384, and 2112 mPa.s, respectively), whereas rice and oats exhibited the highest trough and setback viscosities (1420 and 954 mPa.s, respectively).     

Steeping of Wheat at Various Temperatures – Effects on Physicochemical Characteristics of the Starch

Wheat prior to isolation of starch by wet-milling and a commercial starch sample were steeped at various temperatures (10° to 50°C.) in water. An extended steeping (72 h) increased the gelatinization temperature. In starches steeped for a limited period (24 h) a slight loss of amylose and decrease in solubility occurred as steeping temperatures increased. Water-binding capacities, however, remained virtually identical, decreased somewhat with higher steeping temperatures. The data show that time rather than temperature of steeping is critical in preserving native properties of wheat starch granules.     

The Starch of the Fababean (Vicia faba). Comparison with Wheat and Corn Starch

Fababean starch (Vicia faba) was prepared by air-classifying a fababean flour, but then required repeated water extractions to reduce the protein content to a level comparable to that found in laboratory-prepared corn- and wheat starches. Scanning electron microscopy of the fababean starch showed oval or irregularly shaped granules which were larger in average particle size than those of corn starch. Fababean starch had a higher amylose content, gelatinization temperature range and water-binding capacity, but a lower swelling power and solubility at 90 °C compared to wheat- and corn starch. Amylograph viscosities were in-between values recorded for the other 2 starches at each reference point. The observed differences in physico-chemical characteristics between the cereal starches and the legume starch were not large.     

Pasting and rheologic properties of potato starch and maize starch mixtures

This study characterized the pasting and rheologic behavior of potato/maize starch mixtures of various ratios. Pasting analysis using a Brabender Viscograph indicated that most important pasting parameters did not show a linear change that reflected the ratio of starches. A significant effect on final viscosities and setback was evident. The diameter distribution of starch granules that were heated to 70°C was determined by a laser particle size analyzer. The result suggested that the swelling of starch granules in the mixtures was reduced at the onset of gelatinization. Measurement of dynamic viscoelasticity measurement demonstrated that the mixtures showed slightly higher loss modulus than those seen for the control at small measuring frequencies. The mixture pastes with a high proportion of potato starch exhibited more pseudoplasticity and had a more significant thickening effect than either control paste. Nonadditive behavior was found by mixing potato and maize starch. This suggests that an appropriate blend of starches from diverse botanical origins may provide a simple practical avenue for manipulation.