Citation
Mohd Adzahan, Noranizan
(2002)
Modification of Wheat, Sago and Tapioca Starches by Irradiation and its Effect on the Physical Properties of Fish Crackers (Keropok).
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
The effect of starch irradiation on the properties of fish crackers in relation to
microstructure of starch in 'keropok' was investigated. Wheat, tapioca and sago
starch were used. Linear expansion of 'keropok' was best when the swelling of
granules, leaching of amylose and amylopectin were high. Irradiation has been
investigated as a means of degrading the starch polymers, which leads to an increase
in the amount of soluble materials leached. Microwave, electron beam and gamma
ray irradiation were used to degrade the starch polymers. The Brabender
Viscograph, Texture Analyser (TAXT2-i), Falling Ball Viscometer and Haake
Rheometer were used to determine the rheological properties of the starch pastes and
gels. Results showed that irradiation caused an increase in leaching, a concomitant
drastic reduction in swelling volumes of starch granules, and rate of gelation. It also
showed that the strength of starch gels, viscosity, viscoelasticity and intrinsic
viscosity decreased as the levels of irradiation was increased, indicating a decrease in
the molecular weight of starch polymers. These changes were due to the cleavage of
the amylose and amylopectin fractions by radiation energy. Fish crackers made from
irradiated wheat starches expanded significantly better than the native starch and were cnspler. However, after a certain level of irradiation, the expansion decreased
although the values remained higher than the expansion values for 'keropok' from
native starch. The expansion of some of these wheat and sago starches improved
greatly as the values exceeded the acceptable level i.e., 77% expansion. 'Keropok'
from microwave irradiated tapioca starch expanded significantly better than its native
starch. On the other hand, electron beam and gamma irradiated tapioca starches
seemed to produce 'keropok' with poor expansion properties and worse than the
native starch. Good expansion was found in 'keropok' made from starches with high
amounts of leaching and high molecular weight. Irradiated starch fish crackers were
found to fracture at lower energy and had better crispiness properties despite that
some crackers did not expand well. As a conclusion, irradiation of starch can
improve the expansion and crispiness of fish crackers as it increases the leaching of
amylose and amylopectin from the starch granules. The amylose and amylopectin
can then be involved in the formation of starch-fish network, which allows the
entrapment of water and will aid expansion during frying. The presence of higher
molecular weight amylose and amylopectin will further contribute to better
fonnation of this network. The ratio of amylose and amylopectin in the leachate
would play a role in expansion, where higher amounts of amylopectin would give a
better expanded fish crackers. High swelling ability and protein contents in starch
are also contributing factors to expansion.
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