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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #84412
Title: ISOLATION OF WATER-MISCIBLE HIGH-OIL FRACTIONS FROM STARCH-OIL COMPOSITES

Author
item Knutson Jr, Clarence

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/6/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Fantesk is the trademark name for composites of starch and oil, developed at NCAUR, which form stable solutions that do not separate in water. These composites have a wide range of potential commercial uses in both food and non-food applications. The nature of the stability of the composites is not yet understood. This research reports isolation from these composites of a stable high-oil fraction which mixes with water and which appears to be responsible for the stability of the composite. This research will be useful for scientists testing and developing additional uses for starch-oil composites.

Technical Abstract: Starch-oil composites prepared by jet-cooking mixtures of starch and vegetable oil in water (Fantesk) have been shown to be highly stable and resistant to separation of lipid and aqueous phases in water solution. The reasons for this unusual stability are not yet fully understood. The research reported in this manuscript describes isolation of a high-oil fraction from these composites. The fraction is miscible in water and nearly immiscible in nonpolar solvents such as hexane. The fraction consists of an emulsion of starch, oil, and water. Oil content varies according to the oil content of the original composite from which the fraction was isolated, whereas the ratio of water:starch remains constant. Composites prepared with 10-40% oil yield emulsions containing 22-64% oil, constituting 40-70% of the oil found in the original composite. The oil:water ratios of these emulsions are consistent with that expected from oil droplets surrounded by a boundary layer as described by Eskins et al (1996). Additional work will be carried out to establish whether these emulsions indeed consist of such droplets. Understanding the nature of these emulsions is important for understanding how starch-oil composites are constituted and for developing new commercial uses for them.