Extrusion processing of high amylose potato starch materials

Thermoplastic starch was prepared by mixing native high amylose potato starch and normal potato starch in a Buss co-kneading extruder at starch to glycerol ratios of 100:45 and 100:30. The materials were also conditioned to different moisture contents at different relative humidities at 23 °C. After the mixing, the compounds were extruded into sheets with a Brabender laboratory extruder. The thermoplastic high amylose materials exhibited a higher melt viscosity than the normal potato starch materials when conditioned at 53% relative humidity. Increasing the moisture content in HAP from 27% to 30% (by weight) lowered the melt viscosity to the same level as that of normal potato starch with a moisture content of 28%. In general, the high amylose materials were more difficult to extrude than the thermoplastic material based on normal starch. The main extrusion problems encountered with the high amylose starch were unstable flow, insufficient melt tenacity and clogging of the die. By increasing the moisture content, increasing the compression ratio of the screw and increasing the rotation rate of the screw, the problems were reduced or eliminated. However, only with a starch to glycerol ratio of 100:45 was an acceptable extrusion result obtained. Extruded sheets of such high amylose materials had a stress at break of about 5 MPa at room temperature and 53% relative humidity, whereas the corresponding value for normal potato (thermoplastic) starch was 3 MPa. The elongation at break was also higher in the case of the high amylose material. The results are discussed in terms of residual crystallinity of the starch materials.