Isolation and Characterization of a Soluble Branched Starch Fraction from Corn Masa Associated with Adhesiveness

A water-soluble starch fraction isolated from corn masa and identified by HPSEC as predominantly fragmented amylopectin was highly correlated in amount to both masa adhesiveness (r = 0.890, P < 0.01) and cook time (r = 0.957, P < 0.01). The molecular weight of the component ranged from approximately 6.4 × 10(^5) to 1.2 × 10(^6), based on HPSEC column calibration with pullulan standards. Debranching with isoamylase illustrated that the structure of the soluble masa starch component was highly branched with a similar debranched profile to native amylopectin. Further analysis revealed that a minor amount of amylose was present in the second half of the broad HPSEC peak containing the fragmented amylopectin component. There was a high second-order correlation (r = 0.998, P < 0.01) between the absorbance at the wavelength of maximum absorbance ((lambda)(max)) of the soluble fraction from masa (527-532 nm) and masa adhesiveness, indicating that a rapid assay for masa adhesiveness could easily be developed. Increasing the shear at the stone mill by reducing the gap setting between the stones, increased the amount of fragmented amylopectin. The high correlation between the amount of fragmented amylopectin and masa adhesiveness suggests that this fraction is the main determinant of masa adhesiveness. The amount of fragmented amylopectin can be controlled by cook time and gap between the stone plates of the mill.