Physicochemical properties of starches isolated from pumpkin compared with potato and corn starches.

The aim of the study was to characterize the selected physicochemical, thermal and rheological properties of pumpkin starches and compared with the properties of potato and corn starches used as control samples. Pumpkin starches could be used in the food industry as a free gluten starch. Better thermal and rheological properties could contribute to reduce the costs of food production. The syneresis of pumpkin starches was similar to that of potato starch but much lower than that for corn starch. Pasting temperatures of pumpkin starches were lower by 17-21.7°C and their final viscosities were over 1000cP higher than corn paste, but were close to the values obtained for potato starch. The thermodynamic characteristic showed that the transformation temperatures of pumpkin starches were lower than those measured for control starches. A level of retrogradation was much lower in pumpkin starch pastes (32-48%) than was in the case of corn (59%) or potato (77%) starches. The pumpkin starches gels were characterized by a much greater hardness, cohesiveness and chewiness, than potato or corn starches gels.