Since starch is a significant part of human diet, its oral detection would be highly beneficial. This study was designed to determine whether starch or its degradation products can be tasted and what factors influence its perception. Subjects were asked 1) to taste 8% raw and cooked starch samples for 5, 15, and 35 s and rate perceived intensities of sweetness and "other" taste (i.e., other than sweet), 2) to donate saliva to obtain salivary flow rate (mg/s) and salivary α-amylase activity (per mg saliva), and 3) to fill out a carbohydrate consumption survey. Subsequently, in vitro hydrolysis of starch was performed; saliva was collected from 5 subjects with low and high amylase activities and reacted with 8% raw and cooked starch at 2, 15, and 30 s. Hydrolysis products were then quantified using a High performance liquid chromatography. The results showed cooking increased the digestibility of starch such that the amount of hydrolysis products increased with reaction time. However, cooking did not influence taste ratings, nor were they influenced by tasting time. Subjects' salivary amylase activities were associated with the efficacy of their saliva to degrade starch, in particular cooked starch, and thus the amount of maltooligosaccharide products generated. Effective α-amylase activity [i.e. α-amylase activity (per mg saliva) × salivary flow rate (mg/s)] and carbohydrate consumption score (i.e. consumption frequency × number of servings) were also independently associated with sensory taste ratings. Human perception of starch is undoubtedly complex as shown in this study; the data herein point to the potential roles of salivary α-amylase activity and carbohydrate consumption in the perception of cooked starch.

Considerable research is focused on understanding the functionality of starch hydrolysis products (SHP) consisting of glucose, maltose, maltooligosaccharides (MOS), and maltopolysaccharides (MPS). A confounding factor in this research is the high molecular dispersity of commercially available SHP. The study presented herein characterizes a flexible fractionation approach for lowering the dispersity of such products. This was accomplished by fractionating a corn syrup solids (CSS) preparation based on the differential solubility of its component saccharides in aqueous-ethanol solutions. Products obtained from selected fractionations were characterized with respect to degree of polymerization (DP; liquid chromatography), dextrose equivalency (reducing sugar assays), and prevalence of branching (NMR). Glucose and maltose were preferentially removed from CSS using high (⩾90%) ethanol extractants. Preparations with relatively narrow ranges of MOS, lower DP MPS, and higher DP MPS were obtained through repetitive 70%-ethanol extractions. Linear, as opposed to branched, MOS and MPS were preferentially extracted under all conditions tested.