Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements of gel produced from α-amylase-treated cassava starch granules

• We treated cassava starch granules with α-amylase.
• The treated starch formed a strongly elastic gel.
• The change in gel structure was analyzed by SAXS measurement.
• The strong elasticity of the gel was ascribed to a 3-D network of amylose.

Cassava starch granules slightly hydrolyzed by α-amylase from Aspergillus niger show significantly enhanced gelling properties (Ichihara, Fukuda, Takaha, Yuguchi, & Kitamura, 2014). This paper investigates the mechanism of these enhanced gelling properties by dynamic viscoelastic analysis and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The storage modulus (G′) of α-amylase-treated cassava starch paste was greater than that of native cassava starch paste, and the tan δ (G″/G′) of the treated paste was almost zero at the tested angular frequency, which is much lower than for native cassava starch. The SAXS results suggest that the microscopic gel structure is composed of highly aggregated inhomogeneous nano-scale structures and diluted regions of single and helical amylose chains. Starch crystallization and growth of aggregates were faster, and the size of aggregates larger, for α-amylase-treated cassava starch than for native starch. These results further support our hypothesis that α-amylase treatment improves the elasticity of starch gel by constructing a strong filler-in-matrix type structure.

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