Optical temperature behavior of a starch-water mixture

An optical set-up was developed to measure transmitted and scattered light in real time using a photodiode array as a detector and tested during starch heating. Statistical parameters calculated were Partial Integrated Scattering (PIS) and variance. Understanding behavior of starch under heat treatment in the presence of water is very important in food industry. The structure of heated starch granule changes depending on different factors like pH, solvent type and amount, enzime presence, amylose/amylopectin relation, etc., such changes has been attempted by using several techniques. In this work, solutions in distilled water of amylopectin, were evaluated. Calcium hydroxide solution was also tested and mixed with previous amylopectin samples to evaluate any interaction in a two-phase system. A close relationship was found between the observed optical signals with literature reported structure changes in starch, demonstrating that the system developed has potential to be used in a real industrial process for monitoring and control.