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Starch as Texture Improver
Modified starches can be used as texture improvers in food industries as it provides
desired chewiness to foods, crispiness to biscuits and crackers, quality enhancement
of extruded products and resistance to viscosity breakdown in canned foods. It can
affect mouth feel. Starch hydrolysates are used for improving mouth feel where
cohesiveness or pastiness is to be avoided. High amylose cornstarch is used in
extruded snacks to obtain evenly browned crisp product.
Resistant Starch as a Functional Ingredient
Dietary carbohydrates can be categorized into “available” and “resistant” based on
their chemically distinct structures and varied metabolic and gastrointestinal properties: (1) ‘available or digestible carbohydrates’ are digested by the enzymes present in the digestive tract and absorbed in the small intestine to provide energy and
carbohydrates for metabolism, for example, sucrose, lactose, HMO, and starchy
vegetables, (2) ‘resistant or indigestible carbohydrates’ escapes digestion in the
small intestine and are poorly absorbed and metabolized, for example, dietary fibers
present in cereals, fruits, vegetables, and FOS such as inulin (Englyst et al. 2007).
Dietary fiber is the most prominent and universally agreed- upon resistant carbohydrate. Besides dietary fiber, there are other sources of naturally occurring and artificially developed resistant carbohydrates such as gums, polydextrose, fructans,
resistant maltodextrins and resistant starch.
Resistant starch (RS) is that portion of starch which resists digestion or is incompletely digested by the enzyme pancreatic amylase and in the intact form or as a
product of partial hydrolysis reaches the colon for further anaerobic microbial fermentation. Therefore, RS may be defined as the sum of starch and the product of
starch digestion that resists digestion in the small intestine of a normal human being.
Naturally occurring RS is present in cereals, starchy foods, and heated starch
(Charalampopoulos et al. 2002). RS has been classified into four forms (Englyst and
Cummings 1987a, b; Eerlingen and Delcour 1995; Brown 1996; Haralampu 2000)
as already mentioned in the chapter.
Sources of Resistant Starch
Resistant starch (RS) is found basically in all starchy foods but its quantity may vary
depending upon the biological origin of the plant, structure of starch granules, and
changes proceeding processing operations. The RS content in foods may vary to
about 20% of the product weight or higher (Brighenti et al. 1998). The RS content
of various foods has been provided in Table 2.
M. Ahmad et al.
Starch as Texture Improver
Modified starches can be used as texture improvers in food industries as it provides
desired chewiness to foods, crispiness to biscuits and crackers, quality enhancement
of extruded products and resistance to viscosity breakdown in canned foods. It can
affect mouth feel. Starch hydrolysates are used for improving mouth feel where
cohesiveness or pastiness is to be avoided. High amylose cornstarch is used in
extruded snacks to obtain evenly browned crisp product.
Resistant Starch as a Functional Ingredient
Dietary carbohydrates can be categorized into “available” and “resistant” based on
their chemically distinct structures and varied metabolic and gastrointestinal properties: (1) ‘available or digestible carbohydrates’ are digested by the enzymes present in the digestive tract and absorbed in the small intestine to provide energy and
carbohydrates for metabolism, for example, sucrose, lactose, HMO, and starchy
vegetables, (2) ‘resistant or indigestible carbohydrates’ escapes digestion in the
small intestine and are poorly absorbed and metabolized, for example, dietary fibers
present in cereals, fruits, vegetables, and FOS such as inulin (Englyst et al. 2007).
Dietary fiber is the most prominent and universally agreed- upon resistant carbohydrate. Besides dietary fiber, there are other sources of naturally occurring and artificially developed resistant carbohydrates such as gums, polydextrose, fructans,
resistant maltodextrins and resistant starch.
Resistant starch (RS) is that portion of starch which resists digestion or is incompletely digested by the enzyme pancreatic amylase and in the intact form or as a
product of partial hydrolysis reaches the colon for further anaerobic microbial fermentation. Therefore, RS may be defined as the sum of starch and the product of
starch digestion that resists digestion in the small intestine of a normal human being.
Naturally occurring RS is present in cereals, starchy foods, and heated starch
(Charalampopoulos et al. 2002). RS has been classified into four forms (Englyst and
Cummings 1987a, b; Eerlingen and Delcour 1995; Brown 1996; Haralampu 2000)
as already mentioned in the chapter.
Sources of Resistant Starch
Resistant starch (RS) is found basically in all starchy foods but its quantity may vary
depending upon the biological origin of the plant, structure of starch granules, and
changes proceeding processing operations. The RS content in foods may vary to
about 20% of the product weight or higher (Brighenti et al. 1998). The RS content
of various foods has been provided in Table 2.
M. Ahmad et al.