Effects of Cationization on Functional Properties of Pea and Corn Starches

Abstract
Amylography, scanning electron microscopy and storage tests demonstrated that native pea starches were highly resistant to granule disintegration during heating in dilute slurries, resulting in low hot paste viscosity, high retrogradation and syneresis. Cationization at degrees of substitution of 0.02 to 0.05 reduced the pasting and gelatinization temperatures, increased peak viscosities and set‐back on cooling but eliminated syneresis after storage at 4°C and − 15°C. The principal effects of cationization were to promote rapid granule dispersion at low pasting temperatures, yielding a molecular dispersion of amylose and amylopectin on heating to 95°C. On cooling, the gel structures were firm and the cationic groups controlled the realignment of starch chains during low temperature storage.