UNIT NO.

14:
MODIFIED STARCHES

Prof. (Dr.) Sachin R. Mhalaskar

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Food Process and
Product Technology,
MIT College of Food Technology,
MIT Art, Design and Technology
University,
Loni kalbhor, Pune (M.S.)
 Contents
• Introduction
• Characteristics of Ideal Starches
• Shortcomings of Native Starches
• Definition of Modified Starches
• Modifications
• Types of Modified Starches
• Preparation and properties of
modified starches
• Types of starches and their action
• Applications in Food Industry
• Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION
 Native starches are structurally too weak and limited
functions for application in pharmaceutical, food and
non-food technologies due to its inherent weakness
of hydration, swelling and structural organization.
 Unprocessed starches produce weak-bodied,
cohesive rubbery pastes when cooked and
undesirable gels when the pastes are cooled.
 To enhance viscosity, texture, stability among many
desired functional properties desired, starch and
their derivatives are modified by chemical, physical,
and enzymatic methods.
 Modifications are necessary to create a range of
functionality
Conti…………..
Starch modification can be introduced by altering
the structure and affecting the structure including
the hydrogen bonding in a controlled manner to
enhance and extend their application in industrial
prospective.
This modification includes esterification,
etherification, cross linking, acid hydrolysis,
enzymatic hydrolysis heat treatment and grafting
of starch.
Modified starches can be found applicable
practices in food industry and non-food industry.
 Characteristics of Ideal Starches
• To produce a smooth texture with a
heavy bodied consistency but no gel
phase,
• Have a bland flavour,
• Give a clean transparent solution and
paste,
• Retain its thickening power at high
temperature,
• High shear and low temperature
 Shortcomings of Native Starches
• The lack of free flowing properties of water
repellence of the starch granules,
• Insolubility or failure of the granules to swell and
develop viscosity after cooking,
• Cohesive or rubbery texture of the cooked starch
particularly of waxy corn, potato and tapioca starch,
• The sensitivity of the cooked starch to breakdown
during extended cooking when exposed to shear or
low pH,
• The lack of clarity and the tendency of starch sols
from conventional cereal starches to become opaque
and gel when cooled etc.
 Definition of Modified Starches

• The native starches are, therefore, modified to

overcome one or more of the above shortcomings
thus expanding the usefulness of starch for
myriad of industrial applications.
• Food starches, which have one or more of their
original characteristics altered by treatment in
accordance with good manufacturing practice, are
therefore, referred to as modified starches.
 Modifications
• Modifications of native starch are designed to
change one or more of the following properties:-
(i) Gelatinization temperature and cooking
characteristics.
(ii) Solid viscosity relationships.
(iii) Retrogradation characteristics.
(iv) Ionic character.
(v) Resistance to changes in viscosity of pastes due
to acid conditions, mechanical shear, high
temperature.
 Types of Modified Starches
1. Pregelatinized starch
2. Cross-linked starch
3. Oxidized starch
4. Cationic starch
5. Anionic starch
6. Thinned starch
7. Acetylated starch
8. Dextrin
9. Grafted starch
10. Starch ethers
11. Physically modified starch
12. Enzyme modified starch
 1. Pregelatinized starch
• It is the simplest starch
modification, prepared by
cooking.
• It maintains starch integrity
while providing cold water
thickening
• Cold Water Thckening is a
process that breaks down the
intermolecular bonds of starch
molecules in the presence of
water and heat, allowing the
hydrogen bonding sites (the
hydroxyl hydrogen and oxygen)
to engage more water.
 2. Cross-linked starch
• Cross linking is the most important modified
form that used in the food industry.
• It involves replacement of hydrogen bond
present between starch chains by stronger,
permanent covalent bonds.
• Distarch phosphate or, adipate are
commonly used in cross-linked starch.
• Cross-linked starches offer acid, heat and
shear stability over the native starch.
• Food with this type of starch processing
tends to have longer shelf life.
 3. Oxidized starch
• The processing includes reaction with
oxidizing agent such as sodium hypochlorite
or peroxide.
• This type of starch is mainly used as surface
sizing agent or coating binder and available
in different viscosity grade.
• Oxidized starches have shorter chain
lengths than native starches.
• It improves whiteness and reduces
microbiological content.
• Oxidized starches are the best thickener for
applications requiring gels of low rigidity.
• This improves adhesion in batters and
breading.
 4. Cationic starch
• Produced by reacting native starches with
tertiary or, quaternary amines, using wet or dry
production processes. Used in paper forming
process.
• Represents high performance starch derivatives
widely used by paper manufactures to increase
strength and retention.
• Carry a formal positive charge over the entire
pH range creating their affinity towards
negatively charged substrates, such as cellulose,
pulp and some synthetic fibres, aqueous
suspensions of minerals and slimes and
biologically active macromolecules.
• Also added at the beater to improve drainage on
the wire, better sheet formation, and
enhancement of the sizing efficiency of an alum-
rosin size.
 5. Anionic starch
• Prepared by reaction with phosphoric acid and
alkali metal phosphates or by making derivative
with carboxymethyl group.
 6. Thinned starch
• Produced through depolymerisation reaction by
hydrochloric acid or other acids.
• Unmodified starches are treated with a mineral acid
at temperature lower than gelatinization and results
in partially hydrolyzed starch molecules.
• This cleaves the chain length and lower viscosity. It
increases the tendency to retro gradation.
• The lower viscosity permits higher concentrations to
be used forming rigid gels in gums pastilles and
jellies. In these applications, increased set-back
leading to the formation of strong gels gives these
starches significant advantages over native starches.
• Extended applications in food industry are found by
acid-thinned starch in conjunction with
esterification and etherification reaction.
 7. Acetylated starch
• Acetylated starch (E1420) esterification with acetic
anhydride Starch after treatment with acetic anhydride
produces starch esters which are useful in biodegradable
applications.
• In particular, high starch acetates provide thermo plasticity,
hydrophobicity and compatibility with other additives.
• The result of this treatment is a stability starch which will
produce pastes that will withstand several freeze-thaw
cycles and prevent syneresis (weeping) occurs.
• Wide applications are in foods as texturing agent and
provide good freeze-thaw stability.
• Extended applications in food industry are found by
acetylated starch in conjunction with cross-linked starch.
 8. Dextrin
• Dextrin (E1400) is formed by
roasting the starch with
hydrochloric acid.
• Dextrination is the heating of
powdered starch, mostly in
the presence of small
amounts of acids, at different
temperatures and with
different reaction times.
• Dextrin is used as adhesives
in paper and textile based
industry.
 9. Grafted starch
• Grafted starches are produced by free radical
copolymerization with ethylenically unsaturated
monomers.
• Starch grafted with synthetic polymers is most
utilized tarches from different botanical origins
were grafted with 1, 3 butadiene, styrene,
acrylamide, acrylonitrile and Meth acrylic acid
using free redox reaction.
 10. Starch ethers
Starch ethers are produced by a
nucleophilic substitution reaction
with an ethylenically unsaturated
monomer, followed by acid-
catalyzed hydrolysis for viscosity
adjustment.
 11. Physically modified starch

• Native starch can be modified with mechanical

treatment, using spray drying technique,
annealing technique
 12. Enzyme modified starch

• Enzyme-treated starch which includes

maltodextrin, cyclodextrin
• Starch modified with amylase enzyme produces
derivative with good adhesion property and
mainly used in coating the food with colorant
Preparation and properties of modified
starches
Types of starches and their action
APPLICATION IN FOOD INDUSTRY
1. Frozen Food
2. Flavor Encapsulation
3. Dairy Products
4. Canned Food
 1. Frozen Food
• To stabilize the food products starches are used
in frozen bottle foods to provide freeze-thaw
stability and retrogradation.
 2. Flavor Encapsulation
• Modified starches are used to encapsulate or,
preserve the flavour of the food products.
• Octenylsuccinylated derivatives and other starch
hydrolyzates are used as flavour encapsulation.
 3. Dairy Products
Modified starches are used in a wider way to the
dairy products;
it provides variety of effects, including enhanced
viscosity, cut ability, mouth feel and stability.
In puddings, starch is used to enhance viscosity
and smoothness.
Starches are used in yogurts and sour cream to
control syneresis and enhance thickness.
 4. Canned Food
• Canning process preserves food for up to several
years by achieving a temperature sufficient to
destroy or inactivate food poisoning or spoilage
microbes.
• Starch is most commonly used to thicken,
stabilize and enhance the mouth feel of canned
foods such as puddings, pie- fillings, soups,
sauces and gravies.
• Highly cross-linked starches are used for this
purpose.
Conclusion
 Demands of modified starches are increasing in parallel to the rapid
development of food industry.
 modified starches really offer tremendous number of functional
benefits to variety of foods such as bakeries, snacks, beverages as well
as nutritional foods.
 the functional benefits of modified starches into 5 sub-groups which
are; as fat replacer/fat mimetic, as texture improver, for high nutritional
claim, for high shear and temperature stability, and for flavor/ oil
encapsulation but yet there are many more benefits that need to be
discovered.
 Other related benefits of modified starches are as follows: stabilizer,
emulsifier, thickening agent, dusting agent, drying aids, binder, clouding
agent, suspending agent and for freeze-thaw stability.
 Future prospect of resistant starch should be explored in more details as
the demands for healthy foods are increasing.
 Besides, the new development of genetically modified starches should
be considered as a new interesting area to look into as it may replace
the current method of starch modification by using enzyme, physical
and chemical treatment.