Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine properties of cassava starch modified by amylomaltase (1,4-α-glucano-transferase, AM; EC 2.4.1.25) expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli cells from a gene cloned from Corynebacterium glutamicum. Cassava starch slurries (5, 10 and 15% w/v) were incubated with 1, 3 and 5 unit of amylomaltase/g starch at 30°C for 1 h. The results show that the obtained modified starch had lower apparent amylose content as the starch concentration decreased (p≤0.05). The enthalpy of retrogradation (∆Hretro) depended on the starch and enzyme concentration. Starch modified from 5% starch and 1, 3 unit of amylomaltase/g starch showed the lowest ∆Hretro. The modified starch had higher retrogradation temperatures (To, Tp, Tc) and narrower retrogradation temperature range (Tc-To) than native starch. The percentage of syneresis of the modified starch was approximately 15-20% throughout the 5 cycle of freezing and thawing, indicating a higher freeze-thaw stability as compared to those of the native starch (5-41%). From rheological properties measurement it was found the tan δ value of modified starch could reverse between 70°C and 4°C similarly to that of a thermo-reversibility gel. The incubation time was varied (30 min, 1 and 6 h), as the incubation time increased, the apparent amylose and retrogradation enthalpy decreased significantly but gel strange increased. As the incubation time of 5%starcg slurry and 3 unit of amylomaltase/g starch was varied at 30 min, 1h and 6h, it was found that the apparent amylase content, ∆Hretro and (Tc-To) decreased with increasing time while %syneresis, tan δ and gel straight were not affected. Comparing between the starch modified from the gelatinized and ungelatinized starch slurry had similar properties to the native one. From the analysis of amylopectin chain length distribution, it was found that the modified starch from gelatinized starch slurry had more DP 3 to DP 18, but lower DP > 22 than those from ungelatinized starch slurry which was similar to the native starch.