Elucidation of Substituted Ester Group Position in Octenylsuccinic Anhydride Modified Sugary Maize Soluble Starch

The octenylsuccinic groups in esterification-modified sugary maize soluble starches with a low (0.0191) or high (0.0504) degree of substitution (DS) were investigated by amyloglucosidase hydrolysis followed by a combination of chemical and physical analysis. The results showed the zeta-potential remained at approximately the same value regardless of excessive hydrolysis. The weight-average molecular weight decreased rapidly and reached 1.22 x 10(7) and 1.60 x 10(7) g/mol after 120 min for low-DS and high-DS octenylsuccinic anhydride (OSA) modified starch, respectively. The pattern of z-average radius of gyration as well as particle size change was similar to that of Mw, and z-average radius of gyration decreased much more slowly, especially for high-DS OSA starch. Compared to native starch, two characteristic absorption peaks at 1726.76 and 1571.83 cm(-1) were observed in FT-IR spectra, and the intensity of absorption peaks increased with increasing DS. The NMR results showed that OSA starch had several additional peaks at 0.8-3.0 ppm and a shoulder at 5.56 ppm for OSA substituents, which were grafted at O-2 and O-3 positions in soluble starch. The even distribution of OSA groups in the center area of soluble starch particle has been directly shown under CLSM. Most substitutions were located near branching points of soluble starch particles for a low-DS modified starch, whereas the substituted ester groups were located near branching points as well as at the nonreducing ends in OSA starch with a high DS.