INFLUENCE OF GRANULE SIZE ON VISCOSITY OF CORNSTARCH SUSPENSION

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Abstract
The influence of granule size and size distribution in gelatinized suspensions of 2.6% cornstarch heated at fixed temperatures between 70–90C on the power law viscosity was measured by laser diffraction. In the early stages of gelatinization, where the granule size standard deviation was less than 12 μm, dilatant behavior was observed over the shear rate range 200–1100 S−1. At constant starch concentration and without granule rupture, suspension consistency, K, increased exponentially with granule mean diameter while the flow behavior index, n, decreased linearly with increase in the extent of gelatinization and the standard deviation of the granule size. The variation of K with granule size and that of n with standard deviation were found to be independent of temperature over 70–90C. In the later stages of gelatinization, where the granules lose their integrity, suspension viscosity progressively decreased as granule rupture continued.