Abstract: | Normal corn, high-amylose corn, waxy corn (waxy maize), wheat, rice, potato, cassava (tapioca), and a modified waxy corn starch were blended in various combinations and ratios. Pasting behavior, paste and thermal properties, and retrogradation tendency were determined. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) traces of the mixtures did not resemble those of either of the two components, nor did any DSC trace have two peaks suggestive of a mixture of two distinct starches. Amylograph data suggested that some mixtures behaved like a chemically modified starch. Observations from light microscopy suggested that intermolecular, molecular-supermolecular, and intersupermolecular interactions may be responsible for this behavior. |