Modeling of starch gelatinization during cooking of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

There is a great variability in cooking time and final texture among cassava cultivars and one factor in determining these characteristics is the age of roots at harvest. Final texture after cooking is an important attribute for the acceptability of cassava and starch gelatinization has a role in softening the tissue. Two cassava cultivars at two different harvest maturities were cooked at 90 °C and at boiling water temperature (98 °C) and the extent of gelatinization was determined using an iodine colorimetric method. A generalized model for starch gelatinization, considering temperature and cooking time as continuous variables and age at harvest as qualitative variable, was used to model the cooking process and applied for each cultivar. At 90 °C IAPAR-19 Pioneira reached maximum gelatinization in 32 min for the 12 month old sample and 88 min for the 25 month old sample, while double the time was needed for Catarina Amarela. At 98 °C Pioneira gelatinized in 12 min for the 12 month and 32 min for the 25 month old sample while Catarina Amarela needed 28 and 56 min. Calculated activation energy for starch gelatinization was 122.3±5.2 and 98.6±4.7 kJ/mol for cultivar IAPAR-19 Pioneira and Catarina Amarela, respectively.