ABSTRACT
Properties of modified starches from partial waxy wheats have not been examined. Protease digestion of cracked kernels of three hard winter wheats varying in amylose content led to 82–85% recovery of starch, whereas kneading of the flour-water doughs gave 75–83% recovery. All starches had a protein content of <0.3% and ash content of <0.01%. Granule size distributions showed that starch from Ike kernels contained 86% A-type granules with a peak size of ≈18μm, and Karl-92 starch contained 77% A-type granules with a peak size of ≈16μm. The A-type granules (82%) from Rio Blanco starch were intermediate in size. The amylose content of Karl-92 starch, determined by concanavalin-A precipitation of amylpectin, was 28%, which was 17% higher than that of Ike starch (23%). The amylose content of Rio Blanco starch was 26%. The lipid content of Karl-92 starch, determined as fatty acid methyl esters, also was 18% higher than that of Ike starch (601 vs. 488 mg/100 g of starch, respectively). Wheat starches were modified with hydroxypropyl (HP) groups to low (1.5–2.5%) and medium (≈4.0%) levels, and the HP starches were cross-linked with phosphoryl chloride at levels of 0.003–0.075%. Pasting curves (amylograms) showed that Ike starch substituted with a low level of HP and optimally cross-linked with 0.025% phosphoryl chloride (starch basis) had a greater paste consistency than low HP cross-linked Karl-92, and Rio Blanco starches. At 4% HP and optimum cross-linking (0.003% phosphoryl chloride), the paste consistencies of the modified starches were nearly the same. The clarity of unmodified Ike starch paste was higher than that of Karl-92 or Rio Blanco starch pastes, and the clarity of all three pastes decreased as cross-linking was increased. Unmodified Ike starch formed a stronger gel than unmodified Karl-92 and Rio Blanco starches, but gel properties largely converged as the starches were modified.
