Starch Spherulites Prepared by a Combination of Enzymatic and Acid Hydrolysis of Normal Corn Starch.

This paper describes a new method to prepare spherulites from normal corn starch by a combination of enzymatic (mixtures of α-amylase and amyloglucosidase) and acid hydrolysis followed by recrystallization of the hydrolyzed products. The resulting spherulites contained a higher proportion of chains with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 6-12 and a lower proportion of chains with DP of 25-36, compared to those of native starch. The spherulites had an even particle size of about 2 μm and a typical B-type crystallinity. The amounts of long- and short-range molecular order of double helices in starch spherulites were larger, but the quality of starch crystallites was poorer, compared to that of native starch. This study showed an efficient method for preparing starch spherulites with uniform granule morphology and small particle size from normal corn starch. The ratios of α-amylase and amyloglucosidase in enzymatic hydrolysis had little effect on the structure of the starch spherulites.