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.