Effect of Storage Time and Conditions on the Hardness and Cooking Quality of Adzuki (Vigna angularis)

A storage trial of two varieties of adzuki (Vigna angularis), Bloodwood and Erimo, produced in Australia, was conducted to determine the effect of various combinations of temperature, humidity and length of storage on bean quality. The beans were stored for up to 6 mo under the following conditions: temperature (10, 20 and 30 °C), relative humidity (RH) (40 and 65%). Storage of adzuki at elevated temperature (30 °C) and low relative humidity (40%) resulted in the greatest loss of bean moisture, increase in hydration times and decrease in bean cooking quality, i.e. increased hardness of cooked beans. The best storage conditions for the preservation of adzuki quality were 10 °C and 65% RH.     

Changes of Selected Physical and Chemical Components in the Development of the Hard-to-Cook Bean Defect

The effects of storage temperature and humidity were monitored on several physical and chemical components of cowpeas and beans. Seeds stored at 29°C, 65% RH required prolonged cooking times; however, seeds stored in other conditions (5°C, 30% RH; 29°C 30% RH; and 5°C, 65% RH) maintained short, stable cooking times throughout storage. As cooking time increased, phytate, phytase activity, amylose solubility, high methoxyl pectin and protein solubility decreased. Solids leached during soaking and low methoxyl pectin increased as cooking time increased. These results were consistent with the proposed theory that the hard-to-cook defect involves interactions between phytate, minerals, and pectin. However, they did not eliminate possible roles of starch and protein solubility.     

A comparison between the properties of seed,starch, flour and protein separated from chemically hardened and normal kidney beans

The physicochemical, functional and thermal properties of starch, flour and protein isolates obtained from chemically hardened kidney beans were evaluated. A rapid chemical hardening procedure (soaking in acetate buffer, pH = 4.0, 37 °C, 6 h) was used to produce hardened kidney beans. Chemical hardening altered physicochemical, cooking, hydrating and textural properties of beans to a significant level (P < 0.05). Soaked and cooked chemically hardened beans had a higher value for different textural parameters than their normal counterparts. Chemical hardening increased cooking time (from 49 to 123 min) of beans and decreased swelling power and solubility of starch. The turbidity value of gelatinized starch suspensions from chemically hardened beans was significantly lower than that from normal beans. Chemical hardening of beans caused significant increase in transition temperatures (T_o, T_p, T_c) and enthalpy of gelatinization (ΔH_gel) of both starch and flour. Chemically hardened bean starch showed significantly higher pasting temperature (94.9 °C) as compared to normal bean starch (83.2 °C). Flour and protein isolate from chemically hardened beans showed significantly lower water absorption, oil absorption, foaming capacity and gelling ability than those from normal beans. The onset temperature (T_m), peak denaturation temperature (T_d) and heat of transition or enthalpy (ΔH) of protein isolate from hardened and normal beans did not differ significantly. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Gelatinisation properties of native and annealed potato starches

The relationship between the gelatinisation parameters of native and annealed starches extracted from ten different potato varieties grown at the same site at the same time was studied. The objective was to identify how native gelatinisation temperatures and enthalpies impacted on annealed starch gelatinisation parameters. Prior to ANN, the initial onset (T_o), peak (T_p) and conclusion (T_c) gelatinisation temperatures ranged from 58.71 to 62.45, 62.52 to 66.05 and 68.67 to 72.27°C, respectively, which increased to 66.15 to 69.12, 70.22 to 72.30 and 76.21 to 77.44°C, respectively, post ANN. Overall, the greater the initial gelatinisation temperatures the smaller the increment (ΔGT) post ANN. Comparable enthalpy values pre‐ and post‐ANN were 15.13 to 18.37 and 15.76 to 18.37 J/g, respectively. These data indicate that the more ‘perfect’ the crystallites were before ANN the less they could be enhanced by the ANN process and that against a constant background of α‐glucan structure, the pattern (rate) of starch deposition might be the primary differentiator of starch architecture across the varieties.     

Changes in flour gelatinisation of trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) tubers after harvest

BACKGROUND: Changes in the properties of starch during postharvest hardening of trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) tubers need to be investigated. In this work the starch gelatinisation kinetics of D. dumetorum cv. Yellow stored under prevailing tropical ambient conditions (0.98–2.32 kg vapour per 100 m³ airflow) for 0, 2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days was studied using a 3 × 5 factorial experiment with three cooking temperature (75, 85 and 95 °C) and five cooking times (0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 min). Samples were also evaluated for starch properties and gelatinisation temperature. RESULTS: Storage of D. dumetorum tubers caused starch damage. However, the starch gelatinisation temperature was between 70 and 75 °C irrespective of the tuber storage duration. The starch gelatinisation reaction followed first‐order kinetics defined by the relationship ln(1 ? α) = ? k_Gt. The gelatinisation rate was significantly influenced (P≤0.05) by cooking temperature and increased with tuber storage duration. The activation energy also increased with tuber storage duration. CONCLUSION: Although the gelatinisation temperature of D. dumetorum starch was not influenced by tuber storage, the starch gelatinisation process was affected by tuber storage duration, since tuber storage involved a greater need of energy for starch gelatinisation, which may be an effect of the postharvest hardening phenomenon. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Functional properties and retrogradation behaviour of native and chemically modified starch of mucuna bean (Mucuna pruriens)

Mucuna bean (Mucuna pruriens) starch was isolated and subjected to chemical modification by oxidation and acetylation. The proximate analysis of the non‐starch components of the native starch on a dry weight basis was 92 g kg^?1 moisture, 5 g kg^?1 ash, 2 g kg^?1 fat, 7 g kg^?1 crude fibre and 19 g kg^?1 protein. Chemical modification reduced the values for all the non‐starch components except the moisture level. For all the samples, swelling power and solubility increased as the temperature increased in the range 50–90 °C. The swelling power of mucuna native starch (MNS) and mucuna acetylated starch (MAS) increased with increasing acidity and alkalinity, while that of mucuna oxidised starch (MOS) only increased with increasing pH in the acidic range. The maximal solubility of all the starches was observed at pH 12. All the starch samples absorbed more oil than water. The lowest gelation concentration followed the trend MAS < MNS < MOS. Chemical modification reduced the gelatinisation temperature (Tp), while peak viscosity (Pv), hot paste viscosity (Hv) and cold paste viscosity (Cv) decreased after oxidation but increased following acetylation. The setback tendency of the native starch was reduced significantly after chemical modification. However, the breakdown value of MNS, 65 BU (Brabender units), was lower than that of MOS (78 BU) but higher than that of MAS (40 BU). Differential scanning calorimetry studies of gelatinisation and retrogradation revealed that chemical modification reduced the onset temperature (T_o), peak temperature (T_p) and conclusion temperature (T_c). Oxidation and acetylation reduced the gelatinisation and retrogradation enthalpies of the native starch. The enthalpy of retrogradation of the starches increased as the length of storage increased. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Reversibility of the Hard-to-Cook Defect in Dry Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata)

The hard-to-cook defect, assumed to be a permanent condition in legume seeds, can be reversed. Dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) which had developed the hard-to-cook defect when stored at 29°C, 65% RH had progressively shorter cooking times after additional storage at 6.5°C, 71% RH. This would suggest that the mechanism(s) leading to development of the defect should be easily reversed. The ability to reverse the hard-to-cook defect in legume seeds would provide several economic and nutritional benefits.     

Effects of heat treatment on the quality and storage life of sweet potato

The effects of heat treatment (50 °C) on the sprouting inhibition and spoilage of sweet potato roots (curing temperature: 29 °C) stored in wrapper‐type cold store (WTCS) were determined during year‐long storage. The quality attributes of sweet potato were also evaluated. The results indicated that hot water treatment significantly inhibited sprouting and decay of sweet potato for the storage period. It also showed that there were no significant differences in starch properties in terms of pasting properties, enthalpy and temperatures onset (T_O), peak (T_P) and endset (T_E) of gelatinisation of sweet potato starches among all the treatments, especially between heat‐treated and without‐heat‐treated samples. Also, hot water treatment did not have any significant impact on the internal components' quality of the roots: less than 4% of the year‐long stored roots were discarded due to spoilage. Heat treatment supplied a lethal dose of heat to surface pathogens and cauterised the eyes without damaging the nutritional and processing qualities of sweet potato. The success of storage experiments in prolonging sweet potato stored in WTCS by heat treatment was obtained from the effective control of weight loss, sprouting and decay without influence on quality characteristics. This new technique opens a new avenue to prolonging the storage life of sweet potato with good quality and minimal loss. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of frying temperature,pressure and time on gelatinisation of sago flour as compared to wheat and rice flour in fried coating

This study was conducted to determine the gelatinisation properties of coating with sago flour compared with wheat and rice as influenced by frying temperature, pressure and time. Chicken nuggets were immersed in sago, rice or wheat flour batters and fried at temperatures of 150, 165 and 180 °C and under pressures of 102 and 156 kPa for 0, 6, 18 and 30 s. Results showed that T_o of coatings from sago flour ranged from 71.8 to 74.7 °C. T_o of coatings from wheat flour ranged from 58.2 to 61.2 °C, while that of coatings from rice flour ranged from 77.9 to 78.6 °C. Except for a few combinations, frying temperature and pressure used did not have any significant effects on onset (T_o), peak (T_p) and end (T_e) temperatures. Except for a few combinations, degree of gelatinisation of coatings from sago flour was not influenced by frying temperature and pressure similar to coatings from rice and wheat flour.     

Fine Structure,Thermal and Viscoelastic Properties of Starches Separated from Indica Rice Cultivars

Starches were separated from indica rice cultivars (PR‐113, Basmati‐370, Basmati‐386, PR‐115, IR‐64, and PR‐103) and evaluated using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic viscoelasticity . Debranching of starch with isoamylase and subsequent fractionation by GPC revealed 9.7–28.3% apparent amylose content, 3.7–5.0% intermediate fraction (mixture of short amylose and long side‐chains of amylopectin), 20.6–26.6% long side‐chains of amylopectin and 45.8–59.4% short side‐chains of amylopectin). IR‐64 starch with the highest crystallinity had the highest gelatinization temperatures and enthalpy, T_o, T_p, T_c, and ΔH_gel being 71.8, 75.9, 82.4°C and 5.1 J/g, respectively, whereas PR‐113 starch with lower crystallinity showed the lowest gelatinization temperatures (T_o, T_p, T_c, of 60.8, 65.7 and 72.2°C, respectively). Basmati‐386 starch exhibited two endotherms during heating, the first and second endotherm being associated with the melting of crystallites and amylose‐lipid complexes, respectively. T_o, T_p, T_c and ΔH_gel of the second endotherm of Basmati‐386 starch were 99.0, 100.1, 101.1°C and 2.0 J/g, respectively. During cooling, Basmati‐386 also showed an exotherm at a peak temperature of 87°C. PR‐113 starch with the highest amylose content and the lowest content of short side‐chains of amylopectin had the highest peak storage modulus (G′= 1.6×10⁴ Pa). The granules of PR‐113 starch were the least disintegrated after heating. The effects of heating starch suspensions at different temperatures (92°C, 130°C and 170°C) on intrinsic viscosity [η], transmittance and viscoelasticity were also studied to evaluate the extent of breakdown of the molecular structure. The intrinsic viscosity of starch suspensions heated at 92, 130 and 170°C ranged between 103–114, 96–110 and 28–93 mL/g. Transmittance value of starches cooked at 92°C decreased with increase in storage duration. All starches except PR103, cooked at 130°C also showed decrease in transmittance during storage, however, at lower rate. PR103 starch heated at 130°C did not show any change in transmittance up to a storage time of 48 h. The changes in viscoelasticity of starch pastes cooked at different temperatures during cooling and reheating were also evaluated. G′ and G′′ increased with decrease in temperature during cooling cycle. Starches heated at 130°C with apparent amylose content ≤ 21.2% showed an improvement in G′ and G′′ in comparison to the corresponding starches heated at 92°C, this improvement was observed to be higher in starches with lower amylose content. All starches heated at 170°C had a higher proportion of breakdown in molecular structure as indicated by lower G′ and G′′ than the same starches heated at 130 and 92°C.     

Starch hydrogels from discarded chestnuts produced under different temperature-time gelatinisation conditions

It is essential to know the temperature-time dependence on the chestnut starch gelatinisation process. With this aim, physicochemical and thermomechanical properties of native chestnut starch and with different gelatinisation degrees, isolated from discarded chestnut fruits under environmental friendly aqueous procedures, were studied. Isolated starch (144.96 ± 1.74 μm) presented high total starch (91.83 ± 0.24%), low damage starch (0.10 ± 0.04%), apparent amylose content of 20.31 ± 1.48% and relative crystallinity of 15.7 ± 0.4% with a C-type pattern. Chestnut starch dispersions were formulated at 40% (w/w). Rheological measures indicated that temperatures below 60 °C were not able to form a hydrogel. The hydrogels formed between 62.5 and 65 °C (peak and final gelatinisation temperature, respectively) developed a stable and strong network with short maturation times and full thermoreversibility. Finally, hydrogels prepared above 65 °C were weaker and no completely thermoreversible. A linear relationship was identified between elastic features determined by rheology (G′_gel,1 Hz) and texture (springiness, D₁/D₂).     

Effect of freezing rate and frozen storage on starch–sucrose–hydrocolloid systems

Model food systems based on starch (100 g kg⁻¹), sucrose (150 g kg⁻¹) and water (750 g kg⁻¹) with and without the addition of a low proportion of hydrocolloid (xanthan gum, guar gum or sodium alginate) were gelatinised, frozen at different rates and stored to analyse textural changes by oscillatory rheometry. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to analyse gelatinisation, amylopectin retrogradation and glass transition temperatures. Sucrose had a significant effect on the increase in the gelatinisation temperature as well as on the decrease observed in glass transition values. The onset temperature of the second step of the glass transition, corresponding to the heat capacity change close to ice melting (denoted Tg_im in the present work), ranged between −23.0 and −22.2 °C. Rheological viscoelastic tests showed an increase in the dynamic moduli G* and G ′ after slow freezing and during storage at −19 °C (T > Tg_im) in starch–sucrose systems that is related to sponge formation due to amylose retrogradation. DSC studies confirmed that also amylopectin retrogradation occurs during storage; however, samples containing gums did not develop the spongy appearance. Storage at the usual commercial temperatures (close to −18 °C, slightly above Tg_im) affects the quality of aqueous starch–sucrose pastes without gums owing to amylose and amylopectin retrogradation. However, when hydrocolloids are included in the formulations, the usual storage conditions allow the maintenance of acceptable textural attributes. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Changes in some nutritional,bioactive and morpho-physiological properties of common bean depending on cold storage and seed moisture contents

Seed moisture content is one of the most important storage parameters affecting the quality of stored common beans. This study was conducted to investigate the changes in some nutritional, bioactive and morpho-physiological properties of common bean stored at three different seed moisture contents (6.4, 11.7 and 17.3%), 4 °C and 65% RH for 12 months. Significant differences were determined in terms of examined properties depending on different seed moisture contents before and after storage. Protein, essential mineral contents, total phenolic content, bulk density, true density and electrical conductivity decreased consistently as seed moisture content increases both before and after storage. On the contrary, dimensional properties, shape index values, thousand grain weight and total flavonoid content increased linearly with increase of seed moisture content both before and after storage. As a result, protein, essential mineral contents (potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, manganese), antioxidant activity, total phenolic and total flavonoid content of common bean significantly decreased at the end of 12 months storage compared with before storage, while the contents of heavy metals such as Co, Sn and Pb increased after storage. In addition to, highly significant and positive correlations were determined between L* and WI, b* and C*, Dg and Da, Dg and Sa, Sa and Sv, P and K, P and Ca, ash and pH, Zn and Cu, Se and As. The results of this study clearly indicated that low seed moisture content was the most suitable to maintain the quality of common beans for long-term storage.     

Storage quality of powdered cyanobacterium —Spirulina platensis

The cyanobacteriumSpirulina platensis, produced at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, was dried using the cross-flow technique and subsequently subjected to packaging studies. The moisture sorption studies at 27 °C indicated a critical moisture content of 12.5%, corresponding to 56% relative humidity (RH). The product was packed in pouches made of polypropylene (37 μm thick) and a laminate of metallized polyester with low-density polyethylene and was stored at: (1) 38 °C, 90% RH (accelerated condition) or (2) 27 °C, 65% RH (standard condition). Periodically throughout its storage under these conditions, the product was analysed for its content of moisture, protein, ash and fat. In addition, determinations were made of the changes in the constituents carotene, phycocyanin and allophycocyanin.     

Effect of water content,temperature and storage on the glass transition,moisture sorption characteristics and stickiness of β‐casein 1

Moisture sorption isotherms at +4 °C and +22.5 °C were obtained for β‐casein after isolation and after 9 months of storage at ‐29 °C and +22.5 °C. Glass transition state diagrams (T_g vs. moisture) were determined for β‐casein after storage. The results showed that effects of storage temperature on moisture sorption isotherms were varied; however, at any a_w differences in moisture content were small (< 0.03g H₂O/g solids at high a_w). β‐casein stored at ‐29°C had lower m_o and T_g values than that of β‐casein stored at +22.5°C. The glass transition temperatures for β‐casein were above room temperature, even at a_w = 0.76. Onset of stickiness occurred above a_w = 0.76.     

Snap Bean Quality Changed Minimally When Stored in Low Density Polyolefin Film Package

Snap beans packed in low density polyolefin film and stored at 5°C and 10°C were removed at days 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 for quality evaluation. Chlorophyll content of beans stored at 5°C was not influenced by storage period. Pods stored at 10°C showed significant increase in chlorophyll after 4 days storage followed by a decline as time of storage increased. Hue angle and tristimulus a* corresponded more closely to chlorophyll content and were better indicators of snap bean color than chroma and tristimulus L* and b*. Weight loss, seed percentage and ascorbic acid were higher in pods stored at 10°C than in those stored at 5°C. Storage temperature and period had no influence on texture or soluble solids content.     

Characterization of starch and cell walls from mature-green ambarella (Spondias cytherea Sonnerat) and their enzymatic hydrolysis

Juice from mature-green ambarella contains starch, a characteristic detrimental to its visual appearance due to the white sediment formed upon storage. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of starch and cell wall degrading enzymes on juice residual starch and content in soluble sugars. Starch and cell walls from mature-green ambarella fruits were purified and characterized. Starch was found to contain 21.0% amylose, 78.1% amylopectin and 0.9% other minors compounds. Its average granule size was 20 μm. Its thermal characteristics were: temperatures of onset (T _o = 57.8 °C), peak (T _p = 65.6 °C), and conclusion (T _c = 72.6 °C) of gelatinization and the endothermic enthalpy (ΔH _{gelatinisation} = 12.4 J g^?1). Cell walls represented 2.8% of the edible fresh matter and were mainly constituted of highly methylated (HM) pectic substances and cellulose. The amylolytic preparations we tested, AMG^® 300 L and Hazyme^® C, showed similar behaviours in terms of starch hydrolysis and profit of Brix degree obtained. With 200 μg g^?1 of AMG^® 300 L or Hazyme^® C, the degree of amylolysis of coarse ambarella puree was close to 50% and its increased up to 70% with enzymes concentrations higher than 1,000 μg g^?1 (gelatinization at 75 ± 5 °C for 15 min followed by starch amylolysis at 60 ± 5 °C for 15 min). Total hydrolysis of ambarella starch is possible when pectinolysis occurred before amylolysis treatment, probably because of the fluidification of the medium by the pectocellulolytic enzymes. Pectinex^® Ultra SP-L was the most efficient preparation to degrade the ambarella pectins (～80% of cell wall uronides liberated from 120 mg g^?1 of purified cell walls within 1 h at 30 °C, pH 2.7).     

Retrogradation of partially gelatinised potato starch prepared by ball milling

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of partial gelatinisation on the retrogradation of modified potato starch. The partially gelatinised starches with gelatinisation degree at mean levels of 22.47%, 49.18%, 76.80% and 86.19% were prepared by ball milling (0.5, 1.5, 3 and 10 h). The thermal properties and crystal structure of retrograded starch were examined during 21 days of refrigerated storage at 4 °C. Retrograded starch with high initial gelatinisation degree (86.19%) showed higher retrogradation enthalpy of 6.12 ± 0.18 J g^?1 and lower onset temperature of 45.41 ± 0.24 °C than sample with low gelatinisation degree (22.47%) where the results were 1.32 ± 0.18 J g^?1 and 54.05 ± 0.03 °C, respectively. During storage, two peaks in the X‐ray diffractograms for starch with high gelatinisation degree appeared and increased rapidly, while the peaks for starch with low gelatinisation degree increased slowly. These results suggest that a certain amount of remainder crystals presented in partially gelatinised starch impeded the retrogradation.     

Some Properties of Starch Isolated from Radix Cynanchi bungei

The physicochemical and scanning electron micrograph characteristics of Radix Cynanchi bungei (RCb) starch were investigated. RCb starch presented an apparent amylose content of 20.1%, less than that of potato starch (23.6%), with a granule size ranging from 5 to 15 μm with round, spherical and polygonal shapes and B‐type X‐ray diffraction pattern. The RVA pasting properties of RCb starch were similar to those of potato starch, with pasting temperature of 60.8°C, lower than that of potato starch (64.3°C). The gelatinization parameters of RCb starch were found to be 55.9°C (T_o), 60.0°C (T_p), 66.6°C (T_C) and 13.2 J/g (ΔH) while those of potato starch were 58.9°C, 63.5°C, 68.6°C and 13.2 J/g. Both RCb and potato starch pastes behaved as high shear‐thinning liquids. RCb starch pastes had lower apparent viscosity than potato starch pastes at the same shear rate.     

Effects of storage treatments upon the ripening of conference pears

Preliminary work established the pattern of changes in the amounts and properties of soluble pectic polysaccharides in Conference pears during ripening at 10 °C. Conference pears were harvested on three dates and stored in air at ?1 °C and in 2% O₂ at ?1 °C for various periods. They were ripened on removal from store at 18 °C. Chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations in the fruit peel and soluble polyuronide concentrations in whole fruit as well as general storage data were recorded. The lag in the ripening of pears at 18 °C after harvesting was abolished by storage at ?1 °C. Softening and pectin changes were similar in all stored fruit samples irrespective of picking date, period of storage and whether stored in air or 2% O₂. Storage in 2% O₂ did retard breakdown slightly, however. The main effect of 2% O₂ was that it reduced the rate of destruction of chlorophyll during storage. Higher levels of chlorophyll were found during ripening in fruit which had been stored in 2% O₂ than in fruit stored in air.