Cereal Chem 61:321 - 326.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Gamma Radiation of Wheat. II. Effects of Low-Dosage Radiations on Starch Properties.

L. A. MacArthur and B. L. D'Appolonia. Copyright 1984 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The effect of gamma-irradiation treatments (50, 100, 200, and 300 Krad) on the starch properties of three hard red spring wheat cultivars was investigated. Starch pasting properties of the isolated starches from the treated flour samples showed a decrease in peak height, 15-min hold height, and height at 50 C, whereas starch water-binding capacity and damaged starch values increased. Swelling power decreased, whereas solubility of the starches increased with radiation. Intrinsic viscosity of the various starches and the starch fractions derived from them decreased with increasing radiation, whereas certain X-ray diffraction patterns showed an increase in percent crystallinity. No appreciable differences were observed in the granules themselves by scanning electron microscopy.