For lintners with negligible amylose retrogradation, crystallinity related inversely to starch amylose content and, irrespective of starch source, incomplete removal of amorphous material was shown. The latter was more pronounced for B-type than for A-type starches. The two predominant lintner populations, with modal degrees of polymerization (DP) of 13-15 and 23-27, were best resolved for amylose-deficient and A-type starches. Results indicate a more specific hydrolysis of amorphous lamellae in such starches. Small-angle X-ray scattering showed a more intense 9-nm scattering peak for native amylose-deficient A-type starches than for their regular or B-type analogues. The experimental evidence indicates a lower contrasting density within the "crystalline" shells of the latter starches. A higher density in the amorphous lamellae, envisaged by the lamellar helical model, explains the relative acid resistance of linear amylopectin chains with DP > 20, observed in lintners of B-type starches. Because amylopectin chain length distributions were similar for regular and amylose-deficient starches of the same crystal type, we deduce that the more dense (and ordered) packing of double helices into lamellar structures in amylose-deficient starches is due to a different amylopectin branching pattern.
The gelatinization of waxy rice, regular rice, and potato starch suspensions (66% w/w moisture) was investigated by real-time small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) during heating and by fast ramp differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The high-angle tail of the SAXS patterns suggested the transition from surface to mass fractal structures in the DSC gelatinization range. Amylose plays a major role in determining the dimensions of the self-similar structures that develop during this process as the characteristic power-law scattering behavior extends to lower scattering angles for regular than for waxy starches. Crystallinity of A-type starches is lost in the temperature region roughly corresponding to the DSC gelatinization range. At the end of the gelatinization endotherm, the B-type potato starch showed residual crystallinity (WAXD), while SAXS-patterns exhibited features of remaining lamellar stacks. Results indicate that the melting of amylopectin crystallites during gelatinization is accompanied by the (exothermic) formation of amorphous networks.
Rice flour (18-25% moisture) and potato starch (20% moisture) were heated with continuous recording of the X-ray scattering during gelatinization. Rice flours displayed A-type crystallinity, which gradually decreased during gelatinization. The development of the characteristic 9 nm small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) peak during heating at sub-gelatinization temperatures indicated the gradual evolution into a stacked lamellar system. At higher temperatures, the crystalline and lamellar order was progressively lost. For potato starch (B-type crystallinity), no 9 nm SAXS peak was observed at ambient temperatures. Following the development of lamellar structures at sub-gelatinization temperatures, B-type crystallinity and lamellar order was lost during gelatinization. On cooling of partially gelatinized potato starch, A-type crystallinity steadily increased, but no formation of stacked lamellar structures was observed. Results were interpreted in terms of a high-temperature B- to A-type recrystallization, in which the lateral movement of double helices was accompanied by a shift along their helical axis. The latter is responsible for the inherent frustration of the lamellar stacks.
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