Starch dialdehyde from potato starch illuminated with linearly polarized visible light

Prior to the oxidation with iodate(VII), potato starch was 24 h illuminated with linearly polarized visible light. The illumination provided starch dialdehyde of higher aqueous solubility and much higher susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis with glucoamylase. It could be rationalized in terms of the effect of illumination on the macrostructure of starch granules as shown with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) studies.