ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to compare the structure and properties of flours and starches from whole, broken, and yellowed rice kernels that were broken or discolored in the laboratory. Physicochemical properties including pasting, gelling, thermal properties, and X-ray diffraction patterns were determined. Structure was elucidated using high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The yellowed rice kernels contained a slightly higher protein content and produced a significantly lower starch yield than did the whole or broken rice kernels. Flour from the yellowed rice kernels had a significantly higher pasting temperature, higher Brabender viscosities, increased damaged starch content, reduced amylose content, and increased gelatinization temperature and enthalpy compared with flours from the whole or the broken rice kernels. However, all starches showed similar pasting, gelling, thermal properties, and X-ray diffraction patterns, and no structural differences could be detected among different starches by HPSEC and HPAEC-PAD. α-Amylase may be responsible for the decreased amylopectin fraction, decreased apparent amylose content, and increased amounts of low molecular weight saccharides in the yellowed rice flour. The increased amount of reducing sugars from starch hydrolysis promoted the interaction between starch and protein. The alkaline-soluble fraction during starch isolation is presumed to contribute to the difference in pasting, gelling, and thermal properties among whole, broken, and yellowed rice flours.
