Abstract:
Rice starch is a very useful additive for blending into many kinds of food products because it
has small granule size and soft gel formation. However, it also exhibits negative properties such as gel
syneresis, retrogradation and weak-bodies. Blending hydrocolloids into the starch may be an alternative
method to chemical modification. Two preparation techniques, a blend of rice starch and hydrocolloids
(guar and xanthan gums) prior to dispersed in water (dry mixing) and a blend of gum solutions and
starch powders (wet mixing) were used for both normal (NRS) and waxy (WRS) types of starch. This
experiment showed that samples from these two techniques did not significantly affect the Rapid-Visco
Analyzer (RVA) results. However, the viscosities increased in both starches when hydrocolloid was
added. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data demonstrated a decrease of the gelatinization
enthalpy (ΔH) and the wet mixing-prepared samples decreased ΔH and enhanced gelatinization
temperatures. The wet mixing prepared samples also showed a significant increase in hardness and
adhesiveness for both NRS- and WRS-hydrocolloid gels by texture profile analysis.
Moreover, various kinds of hydrocolloids were studied for their effect on the pasting and
rheological properties of NRS and WRS. Addition of tested hydrocolloids significantly increased
viscosities and pasting temperatures, except for hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC). The
methylcellulose (MC) addition resulted in the most pronounced increase in peak viscosity. Furthermore,
locust bean gum and λ-carrageenan increased final viscosity in NRS and WRS, respectively. The
hydrocolloid addition to NRS and WRS promoted a decrease in ΔH. The gelatinization temperatures did
not differ significantly among the starch samples with different hydrocolloids. Nevertheless, the
addition of gums increased swelling power and the solubility index of NRS, but did not significantly
affect those of WRS.
Dynamic rheological measurement revealed no effect of the hydrocolloids, except for κ-
carrageenan, on G′ , G′′ or η ∗ in both NRS and WRS. The tanδ values of NRS pastes were
increased, whereas those of WRS pastes were unaffected by the addition of hydrocolloids. Steady shear
tests exhibited an increase in a,100 η and K values when tested hydrocolloids were added. All samples,
including the controls, showed shear-thinning behavior for which n <1. Guar gum, xanthan gum and
low-methoxyl pectin were chosen to observe the effect on rheological properties in native and cooked
starch pastes of both NRS and WRS. Xanthan gum showed the highest increase inG′ , G′′ and η ∗ in
both native and cooked starch pastes. The cooked starch pastes also showed shear-thinning behavior as
the native starch pastes. However, the addition of these three gums did not affect a,100 η and K values
in the cooked starch pastes. The increase of hardness and adhesiveness was promoted with the addition
of hydrocolloids, especially gellan, κ-carrageenan or ί-carrageenan, in NRS. A similar result was
observed in WRS pastes, except for low- and high-methoxyl pectins additions. The photographs of
NRS- and WRS-hydrocolloid mixtures showed phase-separated microstructures in which, starch-rich
domains were dispersed in a continuous hydrocolloid matrix. Moreover, the addition of ί-carrageenan
did not promote the amylopectin aggregation.