ABSTRACT
In nature, starch is mainly found in cereal grains, rhizomes, roots, tubers, and pulses. Regardless of its botanical origin, starch consists of two types of polysaccharides: amylopectin (between 70% and 80%) and amylose. Starch granules have, therefore, a particular multi-scale structure. When starch granules are heated in excess of water, they undergo a series of changes known as gelatinization: they readily absorb water and swell to several times their original size. Starch influences the texture of food depending on its degree of gelatinization, and since most of our food is cooked, most of the starch we consume is at least partially gelatinized. The degree of gelatinization depends mainly on the type of starch (e.g., amylose/amylopectin ratio or crystalline polymorph), the composition of the food (e.g., water availability or sugar content), and the processing conditions used (e.g., temperature, heating rate, or shear).
