Physicochemical characterization of Amaranth starch insulated by mechanical separations

This work focused on the physicochemical properties of isolated Amaranth starch. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) showed that amaranth is low-lipid calcium and magnesium source for the human diet. Scanning Electron Microscopy showed that isolated granules are in the range of sub and micro size. DSC starch thermogram showed a gelatinization temperature of 67.9 °C and an enthalpy of 10. 6 J/g suggesting the presence of an ordered crystalline structures. High-resolution X-ray diffraction showed the isolated starch contents nanocrystals with an orthorhombic crystalline structure whose pattern was indexed. The pasting profile showed that this kind of starch has an end cold viscosity as a custard, making it useful for infantile formulations. It does not present dynamic viscosity and would not be a problem when swallowed. A very important finding in this work was that the orthorhombic nanocrystals, after solvation during gelatinization, do not contribute to the apparent viscosity development.