MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF A CORN STARCH PRODUCT DURING THE POST-FRYING PERIOD

The mechanical properties of the crust and core regions of an immersion-fried corn starch patty containing different amounts of gluten, amylose, and amylopectin were studied after various storage times. Moisture and oil profiles for the different gluten contents were also determined during post-frying storage. The addition of gluten did not affect the hardness of the crust region of the fried samples during storage, but the addition of amylose and amylopectin significantly increased the hardness of the crust. Samples with 5% added amylopectin showed a similar behavior, but in this case the puncture force significantly increased during the first hour of storage and remained constant thereafter. The range of linear viscoelastic behavior for fried corn starch patties in compression was for strains up to 4%. Stress relaxation curves showed that the elasticity of corn starch patties increased with time of storage, but decreased with the addition of gluten. The addition of 5% amylose caused a significant increase in elasticity, whereas with 5% amylopectin, the increase in this variable was less noticeable.