MODIFICATION OF THE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF REGULAR STARCH BY HEAT TREATMENT COMBINED WITH ULTRASOUND

Starch, a carbohydrate found in many foods, has properties that can be modified by various processes¹. This study investigated the combined effects of heat treatment (H) and ultrasound (U) on the structural and functional properties of regular starch. Starch samples were subjected to alkaline hydrolysis followed by heat treatment at 95°C for 30 minutes and then sonication at 60% amplitude for 3 minutes. Characterization was carried out using various techniques, including infrared spectroscopy², light scattering^3,4 and differential scanning calorimetry⁵. The results showed that the combination of treatments induced significant changes in starch properties, such as a reduction in molecular mass6 (2.24x10⁺⁷g/mol (H) - 1.23x10⁺⁷g/mol (HU)), lowering zeta potential⁷ (-4.8 (H); - 18.1(HU)) and decreased gelatinization enthalpy⁵ (∆Hg = 1,996.00 J/g (H); ∆Hg = 825.00 J/g (HU)). These results show the importance of combining these treatments to obtain starches with different functional properties, expanding their applications in different branches of industry.