Effects of mucilage on the thermal and pasting properties of yam, taro, and sweet potato starches

This study investigates the effects of water-soluble mucilages (0, 2.5, and 5 g/100 g: w/w, dry basis) on the thermal and pasting properties of isolated starches from three root and tuber crops. The results show that yam tuber presents the greatest level of mucilage and also possess the largest amylose content of the three isolated starches. The addition of mucilage caused a remarkable increase in the temperature of gelatinization for the three tested starches due to the competition for water during starch gelatinization. Furthermore, adding mucilage increased the phase transition temperature range (Tc-To) of starches but decreased enthalpy (Delta H). However, although the pasting temperature increased with the addition of mucilage into tuber starches, it did not change that of taro starch. The peak viscosity of taro and sweet potato starches decreased significantly as their mucilages were added into each starch suspension system (p < 0.05). However, the addition of mucilage slightly increased the viscosity of yam starch. Furthermore, the addition of mucilage slightly increased the swelling power of yam and taro starches, but did not change that of sweet potato starch. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.