Effect of high-speed jet on flow behavior, retrogradation, and molecular weight of rice starch.

Effects of high-speed jet (HSJ) treatment on flow behavior, retrogradation, and degradation of the molecular structure of indica rice starch were investigated. Decreasing with the number of HSJ treatment passes were the turbidity of pastes (degree of retrogradation), the enthalpy of melting of retrograded rice starch, weight-average molecular weights and weight-average root-mean square radii of gyration of the starch polysaccharides, and the amylopectin peak areas of SEC profiles. The areas of lower-molecular-weight polymers increased. The chain-length distribution was not significantly changed. Pastes of all starch samples exhibited pseudoplastic, shear-thinning behavior. HSJ treatment increased the flow behavior index and decreased the consistency coefficient and viscosity. The data suggested that degradation of amylopectin was mainly involved and that breakdown preferentially occurred in chains between clusters.