Porous starch extracted from Chinese rice wine vinasse: characterization and adsorption properties

Chinese rice wine vinasse (the fermentation residue after removal of the crude wine or beer) contains 20-30% residual native starch. These starches are partly hydrolyzed by amylase and glucoamylase during rice wine fermentation, indicating that it is a potential source of porous starch, which is a value-added material. In the present study, morphological, short-range order, crystalline, and thermal studies were determined to characterize the structural and chemical properties of vinasse starch. The results showed that vinasse starch granule had a rough and porous shape and was much more ordered than native starch. Vinasse starch also could tolerate a higher temperature than native starch. The water and oil adsorptive capacities of vinasse starch were 1.89 and 4.14 times higher than that of native rice starch. These results suggest that vinasse is an effective and economical source of porous starch for using as adsorbent.