Inner Structure of Potato Starch Granules

A combination treatment (dry-heat and glucoamylase) was applied on potato starch granules. Many inner granules in the granules after the treatments were observed by SEM. The inner granule located near edge of ellipsoid of granule was partially degraded X-ray diffraction pattern of starch granules did not change before and after the treatments in spite of over 50% loss by amylase digestion. GPC and iodine reaction of the sample showed the treatments brought about fairly large degradation of both amylopectin and amylose components, but GPC of debranched sample after the combination treatments showed amylose was thoroughly degraded while peaks pattern of amylopectin did not change. Small size granules were more susceptible than large size granules by the treatments.     

Form and functionality of starch

Starch is a macro-constituent of many foods and its properties and interactions with other constituents, particularly water and lipids, are of interest to the food industry and for human nutrition. Starch varies greatly in form and functionality between and within botanical species, which provides starches of diverse properties but can also cause problems in processing due to inconsistency of raw materials. Being able to predict functionality from knowledge of the structure, and explain how starch interacts with other major food constituents remain significant challenges in food science, nutrition, and for the starch industry generally. This paper describes our current understanding of starch structure that is relevant to its functionality in foods and nutrition. Amylose influences the packing of amylopectin into crystallites and the organization of the crystalline lamellae within granules, which is important for properties related to water uptake. Thermal properties and gel formation appear to be influenced by both amylose content and amylopectin architecture. While amylose content is likely to have an important bearing on the functional properties of starch, subtle structural variations in the molecular architecture of amylopectin introduces uncertainty into the prediction of functional properties from amylose content alone. Our ability to relate starch granule structure to suitability for a particular food manufacturing process or its nutritional qualities depends not only on knowledge of the genetic and environmental factors that control starch biosynthesis, and in turn granule morphology, but also on how the material is processed.     

Microstructural and Physicochemical Properties of Oxidized Potato Starch for Paper Coating

Heat-induced structural changes were examined for a series of potato starches differing in degree of oxidation and prepared as 25 and 35% dispersions. The molecular weight of amylopectin decreased markedly with the degree of oxidation. Microstructural studies revealed that all oxidized potato starch dispersions heated to 90deg;C contained whole granules. The least oxidized potato starch (Raisamyl 316) paste contained large numbers of swollen granules filled with dissolved amylose. In the more oxidized potato starch dispersions, both amylopectin and amylose were solubilized within the granule. Mixing of the amylose and amylopectin occurred and amylose- and amylopectin-rich domains could be seen inside the granule. At 35% concentration all starches studied formed a gel during cooling (from 90 to 30deg;C). The lower the degree of oxidation, the higher the gelling temperature. Raisamyl 310 formed the firmest gel. The gel formation of most oxidized potato starches was weak. Raising the heating temperature from 90 to 120deg;C, in combination with shearing, delayed the gelation.     

Starch retrogradation

Abstract

Starch granules heated in excess water undergo an order‐disorder phase transition called gelatinization (1) over a temperature range characteristic of the starch source. This phase transition is a non‐equilibrium process associated with the diffusion of water into the granule, hydration and swelling of the starch granules, uptake of heat, loss of crystallinity, and amylose leaching (1–3). On cooling, the starch chains (amylose and amylopectin) in the gelatinized paste associate, leading to the formation of a more ordered structure. These molecular interactions are termed collectively “retrogradation” and have important textural and dietary implications (not covered in this review). This review summarizes the present knowledge on amylose gelation and amylopectin crystallization, and on the factors that influence starch retrogradation.     

The Effect of Physical Damage on Large and Small Barley Starch Granules

Barley starch from a Scottish brewing barley (Golden Promise) has been isolated, purified and fractionated into two populations according to the granule sizes. The effects of physical damage on the two types of granules have been examined by iodine staining, debranching, gel chromatography, viscosity measurements and scanning electron microscopy. The amylose content of large starch granules was slightly greater than that of the small granules and the effect of physical damage did not differ significantly between the two types of granules. Physical damage to both types of granules in the dry state followed by extraction with cold water resulted in the preferential solubilization of low molecular weight amylopectin.     

Characterisation of Dextrins Solubilised by α‐Amylase from Barley Starch Granules

Large granules from barley starch were packed into a column and hydrolysed with α‐amylase by pumping a diluted enzyme solution through the starch bed. The enzyme was then trapped onto an ion‐exchanger and the dextrins that solubilised from the granules were collected and characterised. The size‐distribution of the solubilished dextrins ranged from degree of polymerisation (DP) 2—500. The linear and branched products originated from both the amylose and the amylopectin components. The rate of solubilisation and the composition of the solubilised dextrins from barley starch were very similar to those found for large wheat starch granules.     

Effects of cross-linking and low molecular amylose on pasting characteristics of waxy corn starch

The action of amylose within the granule of normal corn starch is investigated by changes in pasting characteristics of waxy corn starch in a Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA), using addition of soluble amylose (DP = 18) and cross-linking with epichlorohydrin. Although waxy corn starch, containing no amylose, did not show an effect of addition of amylose on pasting characteristics, by cross-linking with epichlorohydrin, the pasting peak viscosity and breakdown were greatly enhanced and set-back (viscosity increased in the cooling process after gelatinization) was generated. The cross-linking depressed the disintegration of starch granules in the swelling process, with amylose interaction, resulting in RVA pasting characteristics similar to those seen with normal corn starch containing amylose. Set-back was essentially caused by rearrangement among modified amylopectins. Addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to the RVA more efficiently enhanced the effect. This indicated that amylose in normal corn starch interacts with amylopectin through locally strong linkages.     

Effect of temperature on the synthesis,composition and physical properties of potato microtuber starch

Potato microtubers (cv Maris Piper) were grown at 10, 16 and 24°C in total darkness for 28 days. Soluble and insoluble starch synthase, ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase, sucrose synthase and fructokinase were assayed in extracts of the microtubers and, in the case of soluble and insoluble starch synthase, activity was found to be particularly sensitive to increasing growth temperature. The starch content of the microtubers increased slightly with increasing growth temperature, but with little effect on the number of granules per microtuber and a small increase in the average granule size. The microtuber starch granules were much smaller than those found in commercial potato starch (c 8–9 μm modal diameter compared to c 21 μm). Although the amylose content of the microtuber starches tended to increase with increasing growth temperature, the phosphorus content was variable. Gel permeation chromatographic elution profiles of native and debranched microtuber and a commercial potato starch showed that no differences could be detected in either amylose or amylopectin molecular size, polydispersity or unit chain distribution of amylopectin (which contained two major unit chain fractions at DP 21 and 56). The onset, peak and conclusion temperatures of the DSC gelatinisation endotherm increased linearly as a function of growth temperature whilst the enthalpy of gelatinisation decreased. It is suggested that elevated temperature during starch biosynthesis facilitates ordering of amylopectin double helices into crystalline domains. © 1998 SCI.     

Studies on tuber and root starches. I. Structure and physicochemical properties of innala (Solenostemon rotundifolius) starches grown in Sri Lanka

Starches from two cultivars (Bola and Dik) of innala tubers (Solenostemon rotundifolius) grown in the same location and under identical environmental conditions in Sri Lanka was isolated and some of the characteristics determined. The yield of starch from both cultivars was 16.0% on initial tuber weight. The shape of the granules in both cultivars was dome shaped and hemispherical with 4–5 slightly concaved facets. Pores were found randomly distributed over the surface of both starch granules. The amylopectin branch chain length distribution was nearly similar for both starches. However, the starches differed with respect to granular swelling, amylose leaching, susceptibility towards acid and enzyme hydrolysis, gelatinization characteristics, pasting properties and retrogradation kinetics. The results showed that differences in amylose content, lipid complexed amylose chains, relative crystallinity and extent of interaction between amylose chains in the amorphous regions of the granule had a substantial impact on the observed differences in physicochemical properties.     

Granule Sizes of Canna (Canna edulis) Starches and their Reactivity Toward Hydration,Enzyme Hydrolysis and Chemical Substitution

Small and large granule fractions were isolated from canna starch (Canna edulis, green leaf cultivar), and their morphology, physicochemical properties, susceptibility towards granular starch hydrolyzing enzymes and chemical reaction with propylene oxide were investigated. Canna starch consisted of a mixed population of large, medium and small granules; the mean of granule diameter was 47.4 μm. The small granules presented round and polygonal shapes, whereas the large granules had oval and elliptical shapes. Significant variations in digestibility of the various granules size by granular starch hydrolyzing enzymes were observed. During the first 24 h, the hydrolysis rate of small granules was higher than that of native and large granule starches. After 72 h, however, the degree of hydrolysis of small granule, large granule and native starches had reached the extent of 19.6%, 32.0% and 27.2%, respectively. The larger the granule size, the higher the MS obtained when modified with propylene oxide, which was due to the higher swelling power of the large granules. The results obtained from this study suggest that small granules had lower water and chemical affinity when compared with the bigger ones. The difference in the reactivity of small and large granules could be presumably attributed to the starch components (amylose and amylopectin) and their organization of glucan chains in ordered and/or less ordered structure of these two fractions.     

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.     

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.     

Solubility Pattern and Recrystallization Behavior of Oat Starch

The oat starch studied had a lipid content of 1,3% and amylose content of 29%. Based on the colorimetric assay, only 15% of the starch leached out from the native granules at 95°C was amylose, whereas 85% of the starch leached from the defatted granules was amylose. The solubilized amylopectin-type material of native oat starch was of clearly lower molecular weight than most of the amylopectin in the original starch. The amylopectin recrystallization enthalpy of 50% native oat starch dispersion Id after gelatinization was 2J/g and that of defatted oat starch was 4J/g.     

Effect of annealing on the semicrystalline structure of normal and waxy corn starches

The influence of amylose and amylopectin on structural reorganization occurred during annealing was studied for normal and waxy corn starches. Annealing caused an increase in crystallinity in the waxy corn starch, whereas the number of pores on the granule surface, observed by SEM, increased especially for normal corn starch. Amylose and amylopectin chains of the annealed normal corn starch were degraded to greater extension during enzymatic hydrolysis than those of the native starch. On contrary, the annealing caused a protective effect on waxy corn starch amylopectin toward the enzymatic reaction suggesting that this treatment promoted a better interaction between amylopectin chains of waxy corn starch. The amylose molecules of normal corn starch may have impaired the mobility of amylopectin molecules and restricted the reorganization of the crystalline structure during the annealing. The major increase in pores number on the granule surface of annealed normal corn starch, resulted of the endogenous amylase action during annealing, could facilitate the exogenous enzymes’ role in the degradation of the starch granules’ amorphous area.     

THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF CEREAL STARCHES TO AMYLOLYSIS DURING GERMINATION AND MATURATION

During the maturation of normal and high amylose barley the susceptibility of the raw starches to attack by α-amylase remains constant until the moisture content of the grain falls below about 60%. Thereafter the starch develops a resistance to amylolysis which is directly proportional to the loss of grain moisture. The mean diameter of the starch granules of barleys and malt remains unchanged during digestion but the blue values of the residual starches decrease throughout. During the malting of wheat and barley the bulk of the starch solubilized is the amylopectin fraction although amylose is increasingly utilized when germination is prolonged. When high amylose barley is malted the blue value of the starch declines steadily throughout the growth period, suggesting that the spatial arrangements of the molecules within the granule influence the solubilization of the starch. The susceptibilities of wheats and normal and high amylose barleys to amylolysis were significantly lower than those of the corresponding malted products.     

酶解改性对燕麦粉中淀粉含量及消化性的影响

为研究酶解对燕麦粉的淀粉含量和消化性的影响,本文采用双波长法测定天然燕麦粉、焙烤燕麦粉、酶解燕麦粉中直链淀粉、支链淀粉及总淀粉含量,并测定其快速消化淀粉、慢速消化淀粉和抗性淀粉含量以评价其消化性,利用红外光谱仪及电镜对其结构和颗粒形貌进行分析。结果表明,与天然燕麦粉相比,焙烤燕麦粉中直链淀粉、支链淀粉及总淀粉含量没有显著变化(p>0.05),但酶解改性燕麦粉变化极显著(p<0.01),分别下降了77.97%、43.55%、46.19%;焙烤燕麦粉中快速消化淀粉、慢速消化淀粉和抗性淀粉含量没有显著变化(p>0.05),但酶解改性燕麦粉变化极显著(p<0.01),分别下降了82.29%、57.06%、33.48%;经淀粉的红外光谱及1047/1022、1022/995 cm-1特征吸收比值没有显著变化(p>0.05)。经焙烤和酶解改性的燕麦粉中大淀粉颗粒表面出现较多的凹陷,而酶解改性后的淀粉中含有的小颗粒较少,且表面的凹陷程度不同。酶解改性极显著降低了燕麦粉的直链淀粉、支链淀粉、总淀粉、快速消化淀粉、慢速消化淀粉及抗性淀粉含量(p<0.01),会对燕麦粉加工性能及营养价值产生影响。     

Influence of Cassava Storage Root Development and Environmental Conditions on Starch Granule Size Distribution

Among starch producing crops, cassava has a higher carbohydrate production than others under suboptimal conditions, more than 163×10⁶ t of cassava starch are produced world‐wide each year and are used for direct human consumption, animal feeds and as raw material for a wide range of industrial products. A basic knowledge of starch characteristics and storage process is required to improve cassava starch quality and quantity. This report describes a comparative study of morphology, starch granule size distribution and amylose content in cassava storage roots grown under different conditions. Microscopic evaluation reveals that storage roots contain larger starch granules than fibrous roots. The study on three Asian cassava cultivars demonstrates the increment of starch granule size from outermost to innermost layers of storage root, while no significant change is observed in amylose content. The effects of developmental stage and growing season on cassava starch reveals that granule size is significantly influenced by both factors, while the amylose contents only fluctuate in a narrow range. The size of the starch granules increases particularly in the first six months after cultivation. Planting cassava in the beginning of the wet season in Asia yields larger granule sizes than planting in the dry season. The significance of this study lies in better understanding optimal growing conditions for improved starch characteristics and production, leading to a better quality agricultural production of this important food and materials crop.     

Initial Phase Solubilization of Normal Corn Starch by Methyl Sulfoxide (DMSO): Evidence from Scanning Electron Microscopy and Size Exclusion Chromatography

Initial structure and solubility changes of normal corn and starch granules, dispersed in varying methyl sulfoxide (DMSO) concentrations were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). Larger granules from starches held for 6 or 15min and air dried showed increased surface etching with increasing DMSO concentration (0–70%): smaller granules showed surface peeling at 70% DMSO. At 90% DMSO, larger granules fractures into smaller pieces, while smaller granules showed full surface erosion. At 100% DMSO, large chunks eroded off both large and small granules. With 100% DMSO, a sheet-like layer formed over a mass of ruptured granules during drying, suggesting that in the absence of water, DMSO dissolves part of the granule, forming a viscous solution which may limit further DMSO granule dispersion. Granules processed with critical-point drying showed additional evidence of attack. HPSEC polymer solubility increased with DMSO concentration (0–90%). At 100% DMSO, however, there was no measured solubility. Similar solubilities for starches held at 6 or 15min (0–90% DMSO) suggest that DMSO may require an external force such as heat to facilitate polymer solubility. More amylopectin of a lower molecular weight was solubilized at 6min, while more amylose was solubilized at 15min. This suggests that granule surfaces were mostly composed of amylopectin under development, while amylose was mostly confined to amorphous regions inside the granule.     

Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Molecular Structure and Physicochemical Properties of Corn Starch

ABSTRACT:  Carboxyl content and amylose leaching of gamma-irradiated corn starch increased and swelling factor decreased with increasing radiation dose. The apparent amylose content decreased gradually from 28.7% for native starch to 20.9% for 50 kGy irradiated starch. The proportion of short amylopectin branch chains (DP 6 to 12) increased, while the proportion of longer branch chains (DP ≥ 37) decreased with increasing radiation dose. The relative crystallinity and the degree of granule surface order decreased from 28.5% and 0.631 in native starch to 26.9% and 0.605 in 50 kGy irradiated starch, respectively. Pasting viscosity and gelatinization temperatures decreased with an increase in radiation dose. At a high dose (50 kGy), melting of amylose–lipid complex in DSC thermogram was not observed. The rapidly digestible starch (RDS) content slightly decreased up to 10 kGy but increased at 50 kGy. The resistant starch (RS) content slightly decreased at 2 kGy and then increased up to 50 kGy. The slowly digestible starch (SDS) content showed the opposite trend to RS content. Slower irradiation dose rate reduced carboxyl content, swelling factor, and amylose leaching. The apparent amylose content and amylopectin chain length distribution were not significantly affected by dose rate of gamma irradiation. However, the relative crystallinity and gelatinization enthalpy increased with slower dose rate. Slower dose rate decreased RDS and SDS contents, and increased RS content.     

Physicochemical Properties of Starch in Sago Palms (Metroxylon sagu) at Different Growth Stages

This study was aimed to examine the physicochemical properties of starch extracted from two different points (base and mid heights) of the sago palms trunks (Metroxylon sagu) of different physiological growth stages namely, ‘Plawei’, ‘Bubul’, ‘Angau Muda’, ‘Angau Tua’ and ‘Late Angau Tua’ stages. The physicochemical properties of sago starch studied were the morphology of starch, amylose content, particle size and distribution profile, pasting, thermal and retrogradation profiles. The results showed significant differences in the amylose and amylopectin content as well as in the granule sizes of starch from the different growth stages. Variation was observed in the proportions of granule sizes and pasting properties of starch from base and mid heights of the different growth stages while slight or insignificant differences was observed in the thermal properties of sago starch.