Non-additive response of blends of rice and potato starch during heating at intermediate water contents: A differential scanning calorimetry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance study

Abstract

The impact of different hydration levels, on gelatinization of potato starch (PS), rice starch (RS) and a 1:1 blend thereof, was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and related to nuclear magnetic resonance proton distributions of hydrated samples, before and after heating. At 20% or 30% hydration, the visual appearance of all samples was that of a wet powder, and limited, if any, gelatinization occurred upon heating. At 30% hydration, changes in proton distributions were observed and related to plasticization of amorphous regions in the granules. At 50% hydration, the PS-RS blend appeared more liquid-like than other hydrated samples and showed more pronounced gelatinization than expected based on additive behavior of pure starches. This was due to an additional mobile water fraction in the unheated PS-RS blend, originating from differences in water distribution due to altered stacking of granules and/or altered hydration of PS due to presence of cations in RS.

Keywords: Blends; Gelatinization; Potato starch; Proton mobility; Proton nuclear magnetic resonance; Rice starch.