Studies on starch-hydrocolloid interactions: effect of salts

Starch-gum interactions offer a wide scope it food product development by virtue of their ability to modify and control the texture of foodstuffs. In many food formulations starch and hydrocolloids are used with other ingredients, e.g. salts. The present work is an attempt to study the effect of various salts such as sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, potassium chloride, calcium chloride and sodium phosphate on con starch and xanthan combinations. The results are interpreted with respect to changes in viscosity and gelatimization temperature when the starch was pasted with xanthan (0-0·25%, w/v) in the presence of salts (0–2% w/v) as measured in a Brabender amylograph. The pastes so obtained were also studied for their rheological profile on a Haake viscometer to confirm the effect under varying shear rates.