Structural,Pasting, and Thermal Properties of Ultra-high Pressure-treated Lotus Seed Starch

Lotus seed starch(15%, w/w) was subjected to ultra-high pressure(UHP) at 500 MPa for 10~60 min. The effects of UHP on the structural, pasting, and thermal properties of starch were investigated using solid-state 13C CP/MAS NMR, differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), HPSEC-MALLS-RI, and a rapid visco analyzer. The 13C CP/MAS NMR results revealed a reduction in the relative crystallinity and peak intensity of the crystalline state with increasing the UHP time. The molecular weight of native starch was 1.433 × 107 Da, which was higher than that of the UHP-treated starch. Viscograms of UHP-treated starch revealed an increase in paste viscosity, peak time, and pasting temperature and a reduction in breakdown and setback viscosity compared to the native starch. Furthermore, the DSC results showed a reduction in gelatinization temperature and gelatinization enthalpy with increasing the UHP time.     

Preparation of cassava starch-based superabsorbent polymer using a twin-roll mixer as reactor

Cassava starch-based superabsorbent polymer was successfully synthesized using a new technology that based on modification of a Haake twin-roll mixer as reactor. The cassava starch was first gelatinized then modified by grafting under external shear stress in the reactor. The torque and temperature curves as a function of time can reflect the variations in the reactor and also offer some information about the copolymerization reaction. The advantages of this system include starch modification can be carried out(1) with high starch concentration,(2) under controlled time and(3) smaller amount of sample(60 g) required. The technology provides useful guides for reactive extrusion. The starch grafted composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) and thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA). The TGA was also used for determining the percentage of grafting ratio. The results show that the cassava starch has been successfully grafted with acrylamide then crosslinked by N,N′-methylene-bisacrylamide using this reactor. The ultimate water absorbent capacity of the cassava-based superabsorbent polymer impacted by various pH values illustrated that the acid and basic solutions inhibit the ability of imbibing water. Additionally, gel properties of the cassava-based superabsorbent polymer were investigated. It can be concluded that the structure of cassava gel is stable, while the three dimensional network of cassava-based superabsorbent polymer is rigid but its structure could not resist external force effectively and everlastingly since G′ was decreased with increasing amplitude.     

Application of FT-Raman Spectroscopy and Chemometric Analysis for Determination of Adulteration in Milk Powder

In this work, FT-Raman spectroscopy is explored as a rapid technique for the assessment of the milk powder quality. Based on information provided by Raman spectra of samples adulterated with starch and whey, a quantitative method is developed to identify the fraud, using Partial Least Squares regression (PLS). In regression models using PLS the results are satisfactory, and such models can be used to identify and quantify samples presenting whey and starch in milk powder at concentrations of 2.32% and 1.64% (w/w), respectively. In the whey determination, the obtained values in the PLS model of the new samples are compared with those obtained by the spectrophotometric method of acid ninhydrin. This result shows that there is no significant difference with the 95% level of confidence between the values provided by the PLS regression method and the acid ninhydrin. The present work shows Raman spectroscopy as an analytical tool which can be used in quality control of milk powder, even in fraud processes, and the calculated figures of merit such as sensitivity, accuracy, limit of detection and limit of quantification clearly demonstrate this potential use. Although the multivariate models developed are not strictly quantitative, especially for low concentrations, they can be used as screening methods for routine analysis, as showed by this work.     

淀粉-丙烯酸反相乳液接枝共聚反应的动力学研究

以过硫酸铵(NH4)2S2O8为引发剂,失水山犁醇单月桂酸酯(Span-20)为乳化剂,采用反相乳液聚合技术,制得了淀粉-丙烯酸接枝共聚物,研究了反应温度、引发剂浓度、单体浓度、乳化剂浓度、淀粉用量五种因素对反应速率的影响。根据单体的转化率,用线性回归法计算聚合反应速率;然后用作图法确定反应的动力学关系式,并求出反应起始阶段的表观活化能。结果表明,其动力学关系式为:Rp∝[(NH4)2S2O8]0.51[AA]1.18[St]0.81[Span-20]0.62;聚合反应恒速阶段的活化能,在53~68℃范围内为26.00 kJ.mol-1。