Physicochemical and functional properties of native and modified by crosslinking, dark-cush-cush yam (Dioscorea trifida) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) starch

Abstract

Cush-cush yam (Dioscorea trifida), is a sub-utilized tropical crop, rich in starch, which grown in tropical areas. The exploitation of its starch has great potential. The objectives of this research was to modify starch isolated from dark-cush-cush yam, which grown in the Venezuelan Amazonian, and commercial cassava starch, by cross-linking, in order to characterize and compare them with their native counterparts. The results showed that differences in the amylose content affected the composition, structure and functional properties of both starches. The degree of substitution (DS) was more significant in the cush-cush starch yam than that of the cassava starch, even if both were within the ranges allowed by the FDA. The granular size of cassava starch was slightly changed by modification. The rheological properties also changed, increasing the viscosity peak, breakdown, consistency and setback. Finally, that modification method conferred great stability to the starches gelatinization.