Cereal Chem 63:407-411   |  VIEW ARTICLE
The Role of Water in the Retrogradation of Wheat Starch Gels and Bread Crumb.

K. J. Zeleznak and R. C. Hoseney. Copyright 1986 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The moisture content of a starch gel determines the extent to which that starch will retrograde. Maximum crystallinity occurs in gels of 50-60% starch. In this study, the effects on recrystallization of adjusting the water level during gelatinization and aging were examined. The degree of recrystallization was measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Retrogradation in wheat starch gels was controlled by the amount of water present during aging, regardless of the amount present during gelatinization. It was also found that solubilized amylopectin did retrograde, and as with starch, the extent of retrogradation was controlled by the amount of water present. Because the amylopectin used was not in granular form, we concluded that the remnant of the granule structure did not affect retrogradation. Retrogradation in bread was also studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Bread baked with several antistaling agents was aged at various moisture levels to determine if these agents act by altering moisture availability to the starch and, thereby, the extent of starch retrogradation in the bread. The effect of moisture on recrystallization was not significantly different between the bread samples and the starch gels. It appears, therefore, that the action of these antistaling agents in bread is brought about by another mechanism.