Cereal Chem 40:684 - 693.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Permanganate Oxidation of Corn Starch.

T. E. Yeates, G. E. Babcock, and C. L. Mehltretter. Copyright 1963 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The production of functional groups in corn starch by permanganate oxidation has been investigated under both acidic and alkaline conditions. The effect of increasing permanganate oxidation levels on the degree of formation of carbonyl and carboxyl groups was determined with starch at pH 1 and 25-27 C. and at pH 9-1l and 2-4 C. Pasting characteristics of aqueous dispersions of the neutralized oxy-starches were observed on the recording Corn Industries Research Foundation viscometer. High initial viscosities were obtained, which declined irreversibly on further heating. The final low viscosities indicated existence of unstable groupings in the oxystarches, which influence polymer degradation under the conditions of pasting. Ultracentrifugal sedimentation of various oxystarches dispersed at 98C. showed a broad distribution of molecular weights with a considerable proportion in a low-molecular-weight range.