Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #65640
Title: EFFECT OF EMULSIFIERS ON THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF NATIVE AND FERMENTED CASSAVA STARCHES

Author
item NUMFOR, F - NCSU
item Walter Jr, William
item SCHWARTZ, S - NCSU

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/18/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Undesirable stickiness of doughs made from cassava (tapioca, Manihot esculenta Crantz) flour is thought to be due, in large part, to properties of the starch. In an effort to modify or eliminate this unpleasant characteristic, we investigated the effect of selected emulsifying agents on the physical properties of starches isolated from fermented and nonfermented cassava roots. We found that the emulsifiers, glycerol monostearate (GM) and sodium steroyl lactylate (SL) stabilized starch granules by complexing with surface components, thereby decreasing hot water-mediated granule swelling and leaching of starch components into the mixture. SL was the more effective of the two emulsifiers at modifying granule properties. Increased granule stability will reduce or eliminate dough stickiness by decreasing granule interaction and association. Thus, our research has shown that incorporating SL or GM into cassava doughs should significantly decrease stickiness. Both emulsifiers are GRAS additives.

Technical Abstract: The effect of the emulsifying agents, glycerol monostearate (GMS), sodium steroyl lactylate (SSL), and konjac flour (KF), on the thermal and physical properties of native, naturally fermented (NF), and mixed-culture fermented (MCF) cassava starches was investigated. GMS and SSL decreased hot water mediated granule swelling and amylose leaching, thereby further increasing internal stability of the starches via formation of an emulsifier-amylose complex and granule surface coating. KF had little effect on the rheological behavior of starch pastes. Both the fermentation process and addition of the emulsifying agents would likely also influence the textural properties of cassava starch or flour pastes.