Structure and Viscoelastic Properties of Starches Separated from Different Legumes

A comparison between the morphological, structural, thermal and viscoelastic properties of starches separated from pigeon pea, chickpea, field pea, kidney bean and blackgram was made. The shape of the starch granules in the different legumes varied from oval to elliptical or spherical. X-ray diffraction of the legume starches indicated a typical C-pattern (mixture of A- and B-type). Granules of blackgram and pigeon pea starch had a higher degree of crystallinity than those of field pea and kidney bean starches. Apparent amylose content of field pea, kidney bean, chickpea, blackgram and pigeon pea starch was 37.9%, 36.0%, 34.4-35.5%, 32.9-35.6% and 31.8%, respectively. Distribution of isoamylase-branched materials among the starches revealed that the proportions of long and short side chains of amylopectin ranged between 13.6-18.5% and 41.7-46.5%, respectively. Field pea and kidney bean starch had the highest apparent amylose content and the lowest amount of long side chains of amylopectin, respectively. Blackgram and pigeon pea starch possessed higher proportions of both long and short side chains of amylopectin than field pea and chickpea starches. The onset, peak and conclusion temperatures of gelatinization (T_o T_p and T_c, respectively) were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. T_o and T_c ranged from 59.3 to 77.3°C, 66.8 to 79.6°C, 55.4 to 67.6°C and 68.3 to 69.3°C, respectively, for chickpea, blackgram, field pea and kidney bean starch. The enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔH_gel) of field pea, kidney bean, chickpea, blackgram and pigeon pea starches was 3.6, 3.0, 2.6-4.2, 1.6-1.7 and 2.6 J/g, respectively. Pastes of blackgram and pigeon pea starches showed lower storage and loss shear moduli G′ than field pea, kidney bean and chickpea starches. The changes in moduli during 10 h at 10°C revealed retrogradation in the order of: field pea> kidney bean> chickpea> blackgram> pigeon pea starch. In blackgram and pigeon pea starches, the lower proportion of amylose plus intermediate fraction and higher proportion of short and long side chains of amylopectin are considered responsible for the higher crystallinity, gelatinization temperature and enthalpy of gelatinization.     

Resistant starch and thermal,morphological and textural properties of heat‐moisture treated rice starches with high‐, medium‐ and low‐amylose content

This study investigated the effects of heat‐moisture treatment (HMT) on the resistant starch content and thermal, morphological, and textural properties of rice starches with high‐, medium‐ and low‐amylose content. The starches were adjusted to 15, 20 and 25% moisture levels and heated at 110°C for 1 h. The HMT increased the resistant starch content in all of the rice starches. HMT increased the onset temperature and the gelatinisation temperature range (T_finish–T_onset) and decreased the enthalpy of gelatinisation of rice starches with different amylose contents. This reduction increased with the increase in the moisture content of HMT. The morphology of rice starch granules was altered with the HMT; the granules presented more agglomerated surface. The HMT affected the textural parameters of rice starches; the high‐ and low‐amylose rice starches subjected to 15 and 20% HMT possessed higher gel hardness.     

Effect of Osmotic Pressure on Starch: New Method of Physical Modification of Starch

A new method of physical modification of starch in the presence of high concentrated salt solution is presented, called “Osmotic Pressure Treatment” (OPT). OPT was introduced in order to produce the same physically modified products as obtained by conventional heat‐moisture treatment (HMT) of starch. Potato starch was selected for the comparative study of the two methods. For the OPT method, potato starch was suspended in a saturated solution of sodium sulfate and heated in an autoclave at 105°C and 120°C ,which corresponded to the calculated osmotic pressures of 328 and 341 atm (332 and 345 bar, respectively) (assuming sodium sulfate dissociates completely) for 15, 30 and 60 min, respectively. For the HMT method, starch with 20% moisture content was placed in a Duran bottle, then the same heat treatment method in the autoclave was applied. Light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that OPT of starch changed the shape of the starch granules to a folded structure, while the starches remained unchanged after HMT. The RVA viscogram for the OPT starch exhibited a decrease in the peak viscosity without a breakdown and an increase of the pasting temperature when increasing the temperature and time, which was in an agreement with the viscosity patterns for the HMT starches. X‐ray diffraction patterns were altered from B to A+B for the HMT and from B to A type for the OPT starch when treated at 120°C. After OPT, the gelatinization temperatures (T_o, T_p, and T_c) of the starch increased significantly with increasing temperature and time, whereas only the T_c of starch increases after HMT. The biphasic broadening of the peaks (high T_c‐T_o) can be explained by an inhomogeneous heat transfer during HMT. Narrow peaks in the DSC curve can be an indication for a better homogeneity of the OPT samples. However, both methods provide a similar decrease in the gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH). The amylose‐amylopectin ratio calculated from the HPSEC patterns was strongly increased for HMT starches at 105°C for 60 min and 120°C for 30 min and decreased after treatment at 120°C for 60 min. For OPT starches the ratio was strongly increased at 120°C for 15 min and decreased after prolong heating. The OPT provides a uniform heat distribution in the starch suspension. This allows the modified starch to be produced on a larger scale.     

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.     

Chemical Composition and Structure of Granule Periphery and Envelope Remnant of Rice Starches as Revealed by Chemical Surface Gelatinization

In this work the contribution of molecular structures to the swelling behavior of rice starches was investigated. Rice starches with different amylose contents (0 ‐ 23.4 %) were gelatinized to various degrees (approximately 10, 20, and 50 %) with 13 M aqueous LiCl, and the surface‐gelatinized starch and ungelatinized remaining granules were separated and characterized. The native starches were heated at 85 or 95°C for 30 min in excess water, and the granule envelope remnants were recovered by centrifugation for further characterization. The remaining granules after surface removal exhibited a lower gelatinization temperature and enthalpy, and swelled to a greater extent upon heating than the native counterpart. The amylopectin molecules in granule envelope remnants obtained at 95°C had larger M_w (weight‐average molar mass) and R_z (z‐average gyration radius) than those in remnants obtained at 85°C. The chemical composition and structure of granule envelope remnants obtained at 85°C were different from those obtained at 95°C for the same rice starch cultivar. The results imply that starch periphery may not be responsible for maintaining starch granule integrity during gelatinization and swelling. It is proposed that the composition and structure of the granule envelope remnant that maintains granule integrity are not constant but dynamic. The formation of a semi‐permeable membrane‐like surface structure during gelatinization and swelling is proposed to be a result of molecule entanglement after gelatinization.     

Gelatinization Transitions of Acid‐modified Tapioca Starches by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

Tapioca starch was partially hydrolyzed by 6 % and 12 % hydrochloric acid (w/v) at room temperature for various length of time. The gelatinization transitions of the acid‐modified tapioca starches were studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Starch suspensions (67 % moisture) were heated at 5 °C/min to follow melting transition of amylopectin. As the hydrolysis time increased, onset (T_o), peak (T_p) and conclusion (T_c) temperatures of gelatinization have been observed to increase, in the same order of relative crystallinity, until reaching some critical values, then decreased with the large broadening of the endotherms. The increasing of the transition temperatures corresponded to the retrogradation of the remaining partially hydrolyzed amylose followed by a decrease of these parameters corresponding to the reduction of the length of the chains of double helices amylopectin.     

Amylose Chain Association Based On Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Amylose and lipid depleted starches from amylomaize, pea, maize, wheat, potato, and waxy maize were heated from 20°C to 180°C, cooled to 4°C, and then reheated to 180°C in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) in excess water. Cooling curves of the amylose and starch melts showed exothermic transitions (< 70°C) attributed to the mechanism of amylose chain association. Amylose/amylopectin mixtures covering the range 0–95% amylose were similarly heated and cooled. The association of linear amylose chains was restricted by amylopectin.     

Effect of Heat‐Moisture Treatment on Structural and Thermal Properties of Rice Starches Differing in Amylose Content

Starches from glutinous rice (1.4% amylose), Jasmine rice (15.0% amylose) and Chiang rice (20.2% amylose) were exposed to heat‐moisture treatment (HMT) at 100 °C for 16 h and at different moisture levels (18, 21, 24 and 27%). The effect of heat‐moisture treatment on structural and thermal properties of these three rice starches was investigated. The HMT did not change the size, shape and surface characteristics of rice starch granules. The A‐type crystalline pattern of rice starches remained unchanged after HMT. The relative crystallinity (RC) and the ratio of short‐range molecular order to amorphous (RSA) of heat‐moisture treated glutinous and Jasmine rice starches decreased with increasing moisture level of the treatments. In contrast, the RC of the treated Chiang rice starch remained practically unchanged. A peak of crystalline V‐amylose‐lipid complexes was clearly presented in all treated Chiang rice starches. The peak became progressively stronger with increasing moisture level of the treatment. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of all treated rice starches showed a shift of the gelatinization temperature to higher values. Increasing moisture level of the treatments increased the onset gelatinization temperature (T_o) but decreased the gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH) of rice starches. A broad gelatinization temperature range (T_c‐T_o) with a biphasic endotherm was found for all treated Chiang rice starches and Jasmine rice starch after HMT₂₇ (HMT at 27% moisture level). Additionally the (T_c‐T_o) of treated Chiang rice starches increased linearly with increasing moisture level of the treatments.     

Structural,thermal and viscoelastic characteristics of starches separated from normal,sugary and waxy maize

Starches separated from five types of maize (two normal, one sugary and two waxy) were investigated for physicochemical, thermal, amylopectin structure and viscoelastic properties. Kisan and Paras were normal maize while Parbhat and LM-6 were waxy maize type. Apparent amylose content of normal and sugary maize was 29.5–32.6 and 41.0%, respectively. Swelling power of normal, sugary and waxy maize starches was 11.6–15.2, 7.8 and 30.2–39.2 (g/g), respectively. X-ray diffraction of maize starches indicated typical A-pattern. Maize starch showed a single broad peak at 2θ=23.2° and a dual peak 2θ=17°–18.1, respectively. Waxy maize starches showed the presence of greater crystallinity than other starches while sugary maize starch showed the presence of lower crystallinity and a large amount of amylose–lipid complex. Intrinsic viscosity [η] of starches in 90% DMSO at 25 °C was 79.7–119.5 ml g⁻¹ for normal, 70.5 ml g⁻¹ for sugary and 107.2–118.1 ml g⁻¹ for waxy starches. Branch chain–length distribution of amylopectin revealed that the apparent amylose, long side chain- and short side chain-amylopectin proportion ranged between 0.0–41%, 13.4–31.5% and 41.5–66.8%, respectively, among the various maize starches. Maize sugary showed the highest apparent amylose content and the least amount of short- and long-side chains of amylopectin. LM-6 and Parbhat showed higher proportion of both long- and short-chain amylopectin as compared to other starches. Distribution of α-1, 4-chains of amylopectin (short-/long-chain) ranged between 2.1 and 3.4, the least for LM-6 and the highest for Paras starch. The transition temperatures (T_o–T_c) ranged between 60.5 and 76.1 °C for sugary, 63.5–76.3 °C for normal and 64.4–81.3 °C for waxy maize starch. The enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔH_gel) of sugary, normal and waxy maize starches was 2.47, 3.7–4.75 and 4.15–5.4 J/g, respectively. Normal and sugary maize starches showed higher G′ and G″ than waxy type starches. The change in the moduli during cooling and reheating of pastes cooked at different temperatures revealed low disintegration of granular structure in starch with higher amylose and amylose–lipid complex as well as low crystallinity. The changes in moduli during 10 h at 10 °C revealed highest retrogradation in maize sugary followed by Paras and Kisan starch.     

Rheological Properties of Mixed Gels using Waxy and Non‐waxy Wheat Starch

Mixed starches with an amylose content of 5, 10, 18, 20, 23, and 25% were prepared by blending starches isolated from waxy and non‐waxy wheat at different ratios. The dynamic viscoelasticity of mixed 30% and 40% starch gels was measured using a rheometer with parallel plate geometry. The change in storage shear modulus (G′) over time at 5 °C was measured, and the rate constant of G′ development was estimated. As the proportion of waxy starch in the mixture increased, starch gels showed lower G′ and higher frequency dependence during 48 h storage at 5 °C. Since the amylopectin of waxy starch granules was solubilized more easily in hot water than that of non‐waxy starch granules, mixed starch containing more waxy starch was more highly solubilized and formed weaker gels. G′ of 30% and 40% starch gels increased steadily during 48 h. 30% starch gel of waxy, non‐waxy and mixed starches showed a slow increase in G′. For 40% starch gels, mixed starch containing more waxy starch showed rapidly developed G′ and had a higher rate constant of starch retrogradation. Waxy starch greatly influenced the rheological properties of mixed starch gels and its proportion in the mixture played a major role in starch gel properties.     

Solubility Behavior of Granular Corn Starches in Methyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) as Measured by High Performance Size Exclusion Chromatography

The extent of corn starch dispersibility and the relative molecular solubility of amylose and amylopectin in methyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were determined. Granular corn starches with <l, 25, 53, and 70% amylose were dispersed in 0–100% DMSO (in water) solutions at 30°C for 30 min. Maximum dispersibility for all starches (98%) was obtained when 90% DMSO/10% water was used; regular (normal) dent corn starch was equally dispersed in solutions with 88–94% DMSO. Molecular solubility, the presence of individual molecules of amylose and amylopectin, of starches was also measured (after centrifugation and filtration) by high performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). Starches were dispersed in 90% DMSO and heated for 10 min at temperatures of 35–120ºC. At low temperatures, high coefficients of variation resulted from additional DMSO solubilization after treatment. At 120ºC, 70% amylose starch was >90% solubilized, while waxy starch was only 47% solubilized. When starches were treated for 18–89 h in 90ºC DMSO, solubility stopped increasing after 67 h. High amylose starch (70%) was mostly solubilized, but 53% amylose, waxy and regular starches could only be fully solubilized after exposure to shear. Amylopectin molecules appeared more susceptible to shear induced depolymerization than amylose. The percent amylopectin in the high amylose starches reflected that as determined by iodine binding analysis and the manufacturer; while the percent amylopectin in regular starch was too low (manufacturers: 75%, HPSEC: 65%). Undispersed components were mostly amylopectin. Since amylose is fully solubilized, however, the HPSEC can be used to quickly determine percent amylose in starch.     

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.     

Starch from hull-less barley: II. Thermal,rheological and acid hydrolysis characteristics

Gelatinization, granular swelling, amylose leaching, viscosity and acid susceptibility characteristics of starches isolated from 10 hull-less barley (HB) genotypes [zero amylose (CDC Alamo), waxy (CDC candle, SB 94794, SB 94912, and SB 94917), normal amylose (Phoenix, CDC Dawn, SR 93102, and SB 94860) and high amylose (SB 94893 and SB 94897)] were monitored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), swelling power (SP), solubility, Brabender viscoamylography, and reaction with 2.2 N HCl (at 35 °C), respectively. DSC data showed that T_o, T_p, T_c, T_c–T_o, and ΔH ranged from 50.1–56.1, 58.1–64.5, 71.0–75.8, 17.9–24.0 °C and 9.6–14.2 J/g of amylopectin, respectively. In compound waxy (SB 94917) and compound normal (SR 93102 and SB 94860) starches, T_o and T_c–T_o were lower and higher, respectively, than in the other starches. ΔH followed the order: compound normal>waxy>normal≈zero amylose>high amylose>compound waxy. The SP followed the order: zero amylose>waxy>compound normal>normal>high amylose. A rapid increase in solubility occurred at lower temperatures (<70 °C) for zero amylose HB starch, however, this increase was gradual for the other starches. At 90 °C, solubility followed the order: high amylose>compound normal>normal>waxy. Zero amylose and waxy HB starches exhibited lower pasting temperatures, higher peak viscosities, and higher viscosity breakdown than normal HB starches. The extent of acid hydrolysis followed the order: zero amylose>compound waxy>waxy>normal>compound normal>high amylose. High correlations were observed between physicochemical properties and structural characteristics of HB starches.     

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.     

Material Properties and Glass Transition Temperatures of Different Thermoplastic Starches After Extrusion Processing

Four different starch sources, namely waxy maize, wheat, potato and pea starch were extruded with the plasticizer glycerol, the latter in concentrations of 15, 20 and 25% (w/w). The glass transition temperatures of the resulting thermoplastic products were measured by Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA). Beside mechanical and structural properties also the transition temperatures of the materials were evaluated during tensile and impact tests. Above certain glycerol contents, dependent on the starch source, a lower glass transition temperature T_g resulted in decreased modulus and tensile strengths and increased elongations. Lowering the T_g at different glycerol contents did not influence the impact strength. When the amylose/amylopectin ratio increased a decrease in T_g was found. For pea, wheat, potato and waxy maize starch the T_g was 75 °C, 143 °C, 152 °C and 158 °C, respectively. Therefore products with higher percentages of amylose are more flexible. The shrinkage of the specimens made by injection molding was considerable compared to the specimens made by pressing.     

Chemical and Physical Characterisation of Grain Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] Starch Granule Composition

Chemical and physical properties of starch granules isolated from five grain tef (Eragrostis tef) varieties were characterised and compared with those of maize starch. Endogenous starch lipids extracted with hot water‐saturated n‐butanol and total starch lipids extracted with n‐hexane after HCl hydrolysis were 7.8 mg/g (mean) and 8.9 mg/g (mean), respectively, slightly lower than in the maize starch granules. The starch phosphorus content (0.65 mg/g) was higher than that of maize starch but virtually the same as reported for rice starch. The starch granule‐swelling factor was lower than that of maize starch and extent of amylose leaching was higher. The starch X‐ray diffraction pattern was characteristic of A type starch with a mean crystallinity of 37%, apparently lower than the crystallinity of maize starch and more similar to that reported for rice and sorghum starches. The starch DSC gelatinisation temperature was high, like for other tropical cereals; T_o, T_p, T_c and ΔH were in the range 63.8—65.4, 70.2—71.3, 81.3—81.5 °C and 2.28—7.22 J/g, respectively. The lower swelling, apparently lower percentage crystallinity and lower DSC gelatinisation endotherms than maize starch suggest that the proportion of long amylopectin A chains in tef starch is smaller than in maize starch.     

Gelatinization Characteristics of Starch from du,wx, ae,and ae wx Endosperm of Sweet Corn Inbred la5125

Starch gelatinization in excess water was studied by differential scanning calorimetry for the mutants dull (du), waxy (wx), and amylose extender (ae), and the double mutant amylose-extender, waxy (ae wx) from the Ia5125 sweet corn inbred background. Onset temperature (T_o), peak temperature (T_max), and enthalpy (ΔH) were determined. For du and wx starches T_max was within 1°C of the value for the normal starch (T_max = 69.4°C). For starches from ae and ae wx mutants, T_max was 7–8°C higher than the normal starch. The highest enthalpies were observed for wx (3.26 cal/g) and ae wx (3.39 cal/g) starches; ae (2.93 cal/g) and normal (2.52 cal/g) starches were intermediate, and du (2.32 cal/g) starch had the lowest enthalpy. The endotherm of the ae starch was completed at just above 100°C, in distinction to reports for ae mutants from dent lines. Although the ae wx endotherm occurred at a higher temperature than the wx, the endotherm was sharpened relative to the ae endotherm, and was complete at 90°C.     

Effects of temperature on the physicochemical properties of starches extracted from microtubers grown from different potato cultivars

Twelve potato cultivars were grown as microtubers in constant environment chambers at two temperatures in total darkness for 28 days. For starch extracted from microtubers grown at 12 or 22 °C, the amylose content ranged from 25.0 to 29.0% (average 27.3 ± 1.4%) or 29.5 to 32.7% (average 30.9 ± 1.4%), the amylose/amylopectin ratio from 1:2.5 to 1:3.0 (average 1:2.7) or 1:2.1 to 1:2.4 (average 1:2.2) and the phosphorus content from 0.41 to 0.93 g kg⁻¹ (average 0.72 g kg⁻¹) or 0.38 to 1.67 g kg⁻¹ (average 0.97 g kg⁻¹) respectively. Two major fractions (F1 and F2) were obtained for isoamylase‐debranched starch (amylopectin), with the chain length (CL) averaging 56 ± 3 or 55 ± 1 for F1 and 20 ± 1 or 21 ± 1 for F2 from 12 or 22 °C growth temperature respectively. Peak gelatinisation temperature (T_p) and enthalpy (ΔH) were influenced strongly by growth temperature, with T_p ranging from 60.8 to 64.5 °C (average 62.1 ± 1.0 °C) or 66.9 to 69.6 °C (average 68.2 ± 0.9 °C) and ΔH from 13.3 to 16.9 J g⁻¹ (average 14.8 ± 1.0 J g⁻¹) or 11.3 to 19.5 J g⁻¹ (average 16.3 ± 2.4 J g⁻¹) from 12 or 22 °C growth temperature respectively. The collective data generated at 12 °C were generally more comparable to data published elsewhere (but discussed in the text) for the same potato cultivars grown in field plots (Perthshire). However, there were cultivar specific responses to field or constant environment chambers which make direct comparisons between starches produced from the two systems subject to some variation. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Physicochemical and structural characteristics of starches from Chinese hull‐less barley cultivars

Fourteen hull‐less barley cultivars, collected from four major cultivated areas in China, were employed to investigate the structural and physicochemical properties of their starches in this study. Relatively wide variations in physicochemical properties of the starches were observed. Amylose content ranged from 23.1% to 30.0%, swelling power and water solubility index ranged from 12.8 to 19.9 g g^?1 and 12.7% to 23.7% respectively. Peak viscosity was from 170 to 346 Rapid Visco Unit (RVU), peak temperature (T_p) of starch gelatinisation was from 55.6 to 61.8 °C and enthalpy of starch retrogradation ranged from 0.3 to 3.1 J g^?1. Weight‐based chain‐length proportions of fa, fb₁, fb₂ and fb₃ in amylopectins ranged from 21.65% to 24.95%, 44.48% to 49.44%, 15.56% to 17.19% and 9.83% to 16.66% respectively. Correlation analyses showed that amylose content was inversely related to pasting parameters and enthalpy of gelatinisation. Pasting properties and amylopectin structures were the most important parameters to differentiate starch properties among different hull‐less barley cultivars in this study. This work will be useful for exploring applications of Chinese hull‐less barley starches in food and non‐food industries.     

Gelatinization and Solubility Properties of Commercial Oat Starch

Gelatinization and solubility characteristics of starch contribute to unique functionality in foods. Corn and oat starch viscoamylographs (35g db) showed peak viscosities of 400 and 390B.U., respectively. Oat starch had a more rapid (89.7 vs 85.6°C) and higher set back (790 vs. 740B.U.) than corn. Data on soluble components of cooled (85°C) starch pastes, as collected and analyzed by high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC), suggest that amylopectin plays a significant (P<0.05) role in oat paste set back; for corn starch, amylose is the dominant factor. Solubilities and apparent molecular weights (MW) of oat starch heated (65-120°C) under shear and subsequent sonication (0-40s) in water or 90% methyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were also determined by HPSEC. An intermediate MW fraction was eluted on the HPSEC chromatograms only when oat starch was heated in water (100-120°C/30min) or DMSO and sonicated, suggesting that this fraction may not be inherent in the native granule. in water, polymer solubility and peak MW increased with temperature (65-120°C), whereas in DMSO, solubility decreased with heating (65-100°C), while peak MW remained basically constant. Aqueous (aq) leaching at 75°C solubilized more corn amylose than amylopectin, but amylopectin and amylose co-leached from oat starch granules. Aq leaching, at 20°C above their DSC peak ends (85 and 95°C for oat and corn, resepctively), showed more amylopectin leached from oat starch granules whereas more amylose was leached from corn starch granules.