Effect of pressure with shear stress on gelatinization of starches with different amylose/amylopectin ratios

Abstract

Effect of pressure with shear stress on the gelatinization of cornstarch with different amylose/amylopectin ratios (waxy 0/100; maze 23/77; G50 50/50; G80 80/20) was systematically investigated using a high-pressure rheometer. Onset and peak temperature of starch gelatinization as well as the peak viscosity were used to discuss the influence of pressure together with shear stress on the gelatinization of starch granules. The results showed that without shear stress, pressure could resist the gelatinization process due to weak swelling of starch granules and lower quantity of amylose released. However, the shear stress can simply counteract the influence of the pressure since its impact is much high on gelatinization. Under certain pressure and shear stress, both onset and peak temperatures of gelatinization were increased with increasing amylose content, which is in correspondence with the results from differential scanning calorimeter measurement, while the overall viscosity was lower when starches with a higher amylose content was used because part of its granular was not fully dissolved during the measurement. SAXS measurements were used to study the gel structure and stability of starch suspensions. It was found that the scattering intensity of starches in the measured range (0.1–1.0 nm−1) is G80 > waxy, indicating the amount of ordered semi-crystalline structures in amylose is higher. Peak values, q = 0.4 nm−1 and q = 0.2 nm−1, detected for waxy starch under different shear rates, indicates that higher shear stress which plays a dominant role compared with pressure, resulted in more degradation in amylopectin, inhibiting the formation of aggregate structure.