Physicochemical characteristics of stored gels from starch blends

Starch blends are widely used in food industry for several purposes, e.g. to reduce the retrogradation, to maintain the soft texture of some product and to develop different materials like microcapsules or biodegradable films. The aim of this work was to study the reorganization of the amylopectin in gels from amaranth (AmS) and achira (AS) starch blends stored at 4 degrees C during 21 days. The hardness, thermal properties, crystallinity and morphology of the gels were assessed. During the first 14 storage days, the structural rearrangement in the gels was mainly due to the long chains of amylopectin in AS, limiting the recrystallization and modifying the retrogradation process of the starches. The starch structure formed after the gelatinization along with the amylopectin fine structure resulted in a lower retrogradation extent of the blends when compared to the native starches. These starch blends could be used in systems where a decrease in the retrogradation process is crucial to maintain the textural and quality properties.