2001 AACC Annual Meeting Charlotte, North Carolina October 14-18, 2001 Charlotte Convention Center

In USA, the Code of Federal Regulations states that food starch may be modified by treatment with 0.45% of active oxygen obtained from hydrogen peroxide. This is a mild treatment regarding sodium hypochlorite oxidation, which produces deep changes in the intrinsic characteristics and functional properties of starch. The objective of this work was to propose an alternative method to oxidize rice starch using hydrogen peroxide, without any additional chemical reagent, to obtain a product with a minimal degree of modification. The method includes a starch suspension heating (27% dry starch basis) with 0.4% of the oxidant for 24 hours at 52°C; a sodium hypochlorite oxidized rice starch was included for comparative purposes. The modified starch was whiter and had lesser moisture, ash, crude protein and reducing sugars, while its water absorption, solubility and swelling power were slightly higher; all the amylographic parameters were higher, except pasting temperature. The modified starch granules showed rough surfaces, no defined edges and numerous pores. Thus, it was feasible to produce a slight modified rice starch with an intermediate behavior between the native starch and sodium hypochlorite oxidized starch with the proposed method. The characteristics and functional properties of this starch could be useful in the food industry and other areas.