Thermorheological characteristics and extrudability aptitude of a new amylose-free cassava starch

Abstract

Cassava crops have always been fundamental in human nutrition and industry. Nowadays, the development of new cultivars with specific properties has become a major research area. In this research, amylose-free cassava starch (WXCS) extracted from clone AM206-5 was evaluated with respect to its physicochemical, morphological, and thermorheological properties. The waxy nature of cassava starch was verified (0.54 ± 0.09% w/w amylose), showing a 16.92±0.20 µm average granule size and elliptical or spherical truncated shapes without granule aggregation. There were significant differences in the pasting profiles evaluated, with WXCS being thermally less stable (Breakdown = 698±2 cP) generating less viscous final pastes (731±16 cP) compared to a commercial amylose-free corn starch. The WXCS shear viscosity was determined in a capillary rheometer (Rheoplast®), showing an inverse linear temperature dependence, decreasing by a factor larger than 3 when the temperature changed from 100 to 120 °C, with a pseudoplastic flow described by the power law (n: 0.25–0.40), consistency index (32607 – 6695 Pa.s) and specific mechanical energy (124-75 J/g). The extensional viscosity was always higher than the shear viscosity, where increasing the strain rate and temperature enlarged the Trouton number (25–145). Complete WXCS transformation under real process conditions was achieved with a 30% w/w moisture content and 100 °C, which induced full granular integrity loss and crystalline structure destruction. The results confirmed a potential utilization for this new starch to obtain extruded-type food products or to serve as a biothickening agent.