Modification of Cassava Starch ( Manihot utilissima ) Using Precipitation Method with Addition of NaCl

Abstract

Cassava starch has been widely used as a functional ingredient in many food products with some limitations. To improve its usage, cassava starch has been modified to have a better functionality. A lot of starch modification has been applied including alcoholic treatment or known as precipitation method. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of NaCl concentration during modification using different gelatinization techniques in precipitation methods on the characteristic of cassava starch. The modification of starch was carried out with 3 treatments of gelatinization techniques: using a hot plate and water solvent, a reactor autoclave and water solvent, and a reactor autoclave and water + ethanol mixture as solvent. Each treatment was carried out with addition of 3 levels of NaCl. The result showed that the gelatinisation techniques affected the morphology of starch granules as seen in their SEM images. Both the gelatinisation technique and the presence of NaCl affected the size of starch granules and water and oil absorption capacity of modified starch. NaCl acted as salting-in ions at concentration 0.17 to 0.34 M. When the concentration was increased to 0.51, the salt led to a salting-out property.