Preparation of hydroxypropyl corn and amaranth starch hydrolyzate and its evaluation as wall material in microencapsulation

Hydroxypropylation of starches lends it useful physicochemical and functional properties that are industrially important. The literature on hydroxypropylation using organic solvents for obtaining higher molar substitution (MS) is scantily available. The present work reports on hydroxypropylation of corn and a waxy amaranth starch to different MS with propylene oxide in an alkaline-organic medium (isopropanol). The synthesis was followed in terms of MS. The parameters optimized were starch:isopropanol ratio (w/w), reaction temperature, reaction time and the quantity of alkali required in the process. A maximal MS of 0.180 and 0.162 were obtained for hydroxypropyl corn starch (HPSC) and hydroxypropyl amaranth starch (HPSA), respectively. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the HPSC and HPSA of the above MS was carried out on a 30% (w/v) solution at a pH of 6.5 and 95 °C for varying time periods using 0.1% (w/w based on starch) bacterial α-amylase, termamyl. The hydrolysis was terminated by adjusting the pH to 3.5 using 0.1 N HCl. The hydrolyzates were characterized in terms of dextrose equivalent and viscosity. The hydrolyzate obtained after 3 h of hydrolysis was spray dried and compared to gum arabic with respect to encapsulation of model flavourings, orange oil and lemon oil.