Grade 10 Cookery

Prepare Cereals and Starch

 Cereals
• usually starchy pods or grains
• the most important group of food crops in the
world named after the Roman goddess of
harvest, Ceres. Rice, wheat and corn are the
three most cultivated cereals in the world
• In manufactured and processed foods, it plays
an obvious role in achieving the desired
viscosity in such products as cornstarch
pudding, sauces, pie fillings, and gravies
 Starch
• the second most abundant organic substance on
earth. It is found in all forms of leafy green plants,
located in the roots, fruits or grains
• Many of the food staples of man throughout the world
are basically starchy foods, such as rice, corn, cassava,
wheat, potato and others
• source of up to 80% of calories worldwide
• used in food manufacture, cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals, textiles, paper, construction
materials, and other industries
 Tools and Equipment Needed
• Mixing bowl • Measuring spoons
• Sifter • Sauce pan and pots
• Wire whip • Kettle and rice cooker
• Wooden spoon • Double broiler
• Slotted spoon • Steamer
• Blending fork • Colander
• Rubber scraper • Canister
• Strainer • Butcher knife
• Tongs • Channel knife
• Measuring cups
 Sources of Starch
The parts of plants that store most starch are
seeds, roots, and tubers. Thus, the most common
sources of food starch are:
• cereal grains, including corn, wheat, rice, grain,
sorghum, and oats
• legumes; and
• roots or tubers, including potato, sweet potato,
arrowroot, and the tropical cassava plant
(marketed as tapioca)
 Common Source of Manufactured Food
Starch
1. Corn
2. Potato
3. Tapioca (cassava)
Starches are named after its plant sources

• corn starch from corn

• rice starch from rice
• tapioca from cassava
 Classification of Starch
• Native or Natural Starch refers to the starches as
originally derived from its plant source
• Modified Starches are starches that have been
altered physically or chemically, to modify one or
more of its key chemicals and/or physical property
• Purified starch may be separated from grains and
tubers by a process called wet milling. This
procedure employs various techniques of grinding,
screening, and centrifuging to separate the starch
from fiber, oil, and protein
Starch Composition and Structure
• polysaccharide made up of hundreds or even
thousands of glucose molecules joined
together
• two general types, called fractions: amylose
and amylopectin
 Amylose
• a long chain-like molecule, sometimes called
the linear fraction, and is produced by linking
together 500 to 2, 000 glucose molecules
 Amylopectin
• highly branched, bushy type of structure, very
different from the long, string-like molecules
of amylose
 The Starch Granule
• storage areas of plants, notably the seeds and
roots, molecules of starch are deposited in
tiny, organized units called granules
• Amylose and amylopectin molecules are
placed together in tightly packed stratified
layers formed around a central spot in the
granule called the hilum
• If the starch granules, in a water suspension,
are observed microscopically under polarized
light, the highly oriented structure causes the
light to be rotated so that a Maltese cross
pattern on each granule is observed
• When the pattern disappears when the starch
mixture is heated and the structure disrupted
it is called birefringence
Composition of Starch
Starch Properties and Reactions
 1. Gelatinization
• The sum of changes that occur in the first
stages of heating starch granules in a moist
environment which includes swelling of
granules as water is absorbed and disruption
of the organized granule structure
 2. Viscosity
• The resistance to flow; increase in thickness or
consistency. When the newly gelatinized
starch is stirred, more swollen granules break
and more starch molecules spill causing
increase in viscosity or thickness
Changes in Gelatinization of Starch
• hydration and swelling to several times original size
• loss of birefringence
• increase in clarity
• marked, rapid increase in consistency and
attainment of peak
• "dissolution" of linear molecules and diffusion
from ruptured granules.
• with heat removal, retro gradation of mixture to a
paste-like mass of gel
• The type of sugar influences the temperature
and rate of gelatinization. The effect of sugar is
attributed to competition for water. It was
observed that sugar actually interacts with the
amorphous areas of the starch granules
 Different Sweeteners Added to Starch Gel
Preparation
• honey
• molasses
• panutsa or granulated sugar
 3. Retrogadation
• the process in which starch molecules,
particularly the amylose fraction, re-associate
or bond together in an ordered structure after
disruption by gelatinization; ultimately a
crystalline order appears
 4. Syneresis
• Oozing of liquid from gel when cut and
allowed to stand (e.g. jelly or baked custard).
The oozing of liquid from a rigid gel;
sometimes called weeping
 This reaction occurs in all kinds of gels

• puddings
• jellies
• custards
• gelatin
• agar
 5. Dextrinization
• It is the process of forming dextrin. Dextrins –
are partially hydrolyzed starches that are
prepared by dry roasting. In home kitchens,
dextrinization is achieved by toasting flour for
polvoron, rice flour for kare-kare sauce, and
bread slices for breakfast
 6. Hydrolysis
• Starches undergo hydrolysis during cooking or
processing and during storage of food where a
chemical reaction in which a molecular linkage
is broken and a molecule of water is utilized
Functional Properties of Starches
1. Thickeners in gravies, sauces and pudding. It
absorbs water and become a gel when cooked.
2. Colloidal stabilizers
3. Moisture retainer
4. Gel forming agents
5. Binders
6. Package
7. Flavor carriers– its ability to trap oils and fats,
which absorb flavoring substances more efficiently.
• Starches – are added to processed meats
(luncheon meats, hot dogs, sausages, etc.) as
a filler, binder, moisture, retainer, and fat
substitute. The quality characteristics of the
starch itself depends upon which role or
function it was used
• Cereal. Cereal is any grain that is used for
food. Grains especially whole grain are not just
empty calories. These are very valuable and
can contribute a great deal to our health. You
should include at least four servings from this
food group each day
 Cereal-processed food:
• A whole grain cereal is a grain product that has retained
the specific nutrients of the whole, unprocessed grain and
contains natural proportions of bran, germ and endosperm.
• Enriched cereals are excellent sources of thiamine, niacin,
riboflavin, and iron.
• A restored cereal is one made from either the entire grain
or portions of one or more grains to which there have been
added sufficient amounts of thiamine, niacin, and iron to
attain the accepted whole grain levels of these three
nutrients found in the original grain from which the cereal
is prepared
 Cereals provide the body with
• Carbohydrates
• Protein
• Fat
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water
• Cellulose or roughage