Evaluation of porous starch as a flavour carrier.

A commercial porous starch was evaluated for the use as a carrier for liquid flavours. Encapsulation trials performed with diacetyl showed a high initial load and good retention over time when more polar solvents commonly used in flavour creation were used. The physical interactions between the porous starch and solvents used in flavour creation were also studied. The glass transition temperature of the starch decreased upon addition of the polar solvents, ethanol and propylene glycol. Propylene glycol also produced an exothermic peak when mixed with porous starch, possibly due to the formation of complexes between the two components. Low resolution (1)H-NMR results suggested that a stronger interaction was established between more polar solvents and the porous starch, as indicated by a more marked decrease in relaxation times and proton diffusion coefficient of the solvents on adding porous starch.