Effects of Fatty Acid Addition on the Physicochemical Properties of Corn Starch

• Published in: International journal of food properties Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 204 - 218
• Main Authors: Arik Kibar, E. Aytunga, Gönenç, İlknur, Us, Ferhunde
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 02.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: amylose; Amylose-lipid complex; Carbohydrates; corn starch; crosslinking; Differential scanning calorimetry; enthalpy; Fatty acid; Fatty acids; Gelatinization; Glass transition; glass transition temperature; heat stability; Lipids; Retrogradation; saturated fatty acids; starch gels; Thermodynamics
• ISSN: 1532-2386; 1094-2912; 1532-2386
• DOI: 10.1080/10942912.2011.619289

The effect of addition of six fatty acids (stearic, palmitic, myristic, oleic, palmitoleic, and myristoleic acid) on the gelatinization, glass transition, and retrogradation properties of corn starch as well as their complexing abilities with amylose were determined. Differential scanning calorimeter studies reflected that addition of fatty acids caused a 73–89% decrease in the gelatinization enthalpy compared to that of the native starch. Besides amylose-lipid formation, exotherm was determined at the same temperature range with the gelatinization endotherm. As a result, it was suggested that fatty acids complexed with amylose during gelatinization. Fatty acid addition significantly increased the glass transition temperature of starch gel. This was attributed to two reasons: the first is due to the physical cross-linking action of amylose–lipid complexes in starch-water system; the second may be due to the effect of uncomplexed fatty acids on water distribution in the gel structure as a result of their amphiphilic character. Thermal properties of amylose-lipid complexes were compared in order to determine the effect of fatty acid properties. It was found that the shorter chain length and unsaturation favored the complex formation but the complexes formed by longer and saturated fatty acids were more heat stable. Addition of fatty acids resulted in 73–90% and 47–71% reduction in the retrogradation enthalpy compared to native starch gels at 5°C and 21°C, respectively. The reduction in the retrogradation enthalpy was inversely related to the amylose-lipid complexing abilities of the fatty acids and it might be explained by the hindrance effect of uncomplexed fatty acids to the water distribution in the starch gel matrix.