Characteristics of pea, lentil and faba bean starches isolated from air-classified flours in comparison with commercial starches. (15th March 2019) - Li, Liying
Highlights: Damaged starch, protein and fiber were effectively removed during starch isolation. Isolated pulse starches displayed characteristics similar to commercial pea starch. Pulse starches showed features different from commercial maize and tapioca starches. Amylose content and branch-chain length of amylopectin impact starch functionality. Cooked pulse, maize and tapioca starches exhibited comparable digestibility. Abstract: This study aimed to isolate starches of a high purity from starch-rich pea, lentil and faba bean flours and to characterize and compare the isolated starches with important commercial starches. Isolated pulse starches had a purity of 94.8–97.9% and contained only 0.9–1.1% damaged starch. The isolated pulse starches showed amylose contents and amylopectin branch-chain-length distributions similar to those of commercial pea starch. Therefore, the granular morphologies, crystalline structure, thermal properties, pasting properties, gelling ability and in vitro digestibility of the isolated pulse starches were comparable to those of commercial pea starch but different from those of commercial maize and tapioca starches. The desirable functionality of the pulse starches ( e.g., strong gelling ability) renders them suitable for some specific industrial applications, and further modifications can be utilized to enhance their functionality for broader use. This research provided the fundamental knowledge required for future efforts to promote value-added utilization of pulse starches.