Abstract:
The objective of this study were to determine the effect of amylomaltase (AM) (4-α-D-glucanotransferase; EC.2.4.1.25) concentration and modification time on the properties, (i.e. amylose content, branched chain length distribution of amylopectin, thermo-reversible gel property, retrogradation and freeze-thaw stability), of non-waxy rice starches modified by amylomaltase, originated from Corynebacterium glutamicum cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Rice starch slurries (5% w/v) was treated with different amylomaltase concentrations (10, 20 and 40 U of AM/g starch) at 30°C for 24 h. The results show that as the amylomaltase concentration increased, the modified non-waxy rice starch had higher apparent amylose content, short side chain of amylopectin (DP≤8), retrogradation temperatures (To, Tp, Tc), resistance to the freezing-thawing cycles and lower amylopectin (DP 9-20), enthalpy of retrogradation (∆Hretro). The tan δ value of the modified rice starch could reverse between 70°C and 4°C similarly to that of a thermo-reversible gel. These changes were obvious at 40 U of AM/g starch. The 5% (w/w) non-waxy rice starch slurries modified with 40 U of AM/g starch at 30°C and various time (1, 6, 12 and 24 h.) had higher apparent amylose content, short side chain of amylopectin, To, Tp, Tc, resistance to the freezing-thawing cycles and lower amylopectin (DP 9-20), ∆Hretro as the time of modification increased. The modified non-waxy rice starch gel at different modification time demonstrated thermo-reversibility properties, especially at 24 h. The gel strength of the 15% (w/v) modified non-waxy rice starch gel (40 U/g starch at 24 h) was equivalent to 1% (w/v) of gelatin gel. The modified non-waxy rice starch was used to replace gelatin in panna cotta was found to have lower gel strength than that with gelatin. Finally, the modification condition (40 U of AM/ g starch) was used in waxy rice starch, it was found that the modified waxy rice had more short chain amylopectin but did not have the thermo-reversibility property indicating that it cannot replace gelatin.