Acetylated corn starch (ACS) was synthesized by the reaction of native corn starch (NCS) with acetic anhydride (AA) in an aqueous medium in the presence of sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. The factors that could affect the degree of substitution (DS) and reaction efficiency (RE) of corn starch were investigated which included the reaction temperature and time, the mass ratio of AA to starch, the ratio of the water volume to starch mass and pH. The optimal DS of 0.071 and RE of 67.05% was obtained. FTIR spectrometry showed new bands at 1733, 1375 and 1252 cm(-1). The SEM of the ACS indicated some cavities on the granules which fused together, compared with NCS. Wide angle X-ray diffraction revealed that ACS had a similar profile as NCS (A type). However, the intensity of peaks were diminished. DSC thermograms exhibited that ACS had some lower gelatinization temperatures and enthalpies than NCS. The functional properties of ACS such as the swelling power, solubility, water absorption, clarity, freeze-thaw stability, retrogradation and viscosity were also studied. The results suggest that the ACS has much better functional properties than the NCS, and could be expected to have wide applications especially in food industry.
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