Cereal Chem 59:128 - 131.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Effect of Sugars on Starch Gelatinization.

R. D. Spies and R. C. Hoseney. Copyright 1982 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

As the concentration of sugar in sugar-flour-water solutions was increased, the gelatinization temperature of the starch also increased. The gelatinization-delaying characteristics of a sugar solution were shown to be related to the water activity of the solution and to the molecular size of the sugar. As the water activity of a sugar solution decreased, gelatinization temperature of starch in the solution increased. But at equal water activities, not all sugars delayed gelatinization to the same extent. Sugars with longer chain lengths delayed gelatinization more than did shorter-chain sugars. Starch-sugar interactions may play a role in delaying starch gelatinization. Interaction of sugar with starch chains in the amorphous regions of the starch granule stabilizes those regions, thus increasing the energy required for gelatinization.