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From ancient times to modern times: How does modified starch subvert our eating experience?
Modified starch, also known as starch derivatives, is a product that changes the properties of natural starch through physical, enzymatic or chemical treatment. Its applications are widespread in the food, pharmaceutical and other industries, making it an indispensable part of modern life.
Modified starches are thickeners and stabilizers in foods, used as disintegrants in pharmaceutical products, and even as binders for coating paper.
The modification of starch is mainly to improve its performance in different applications. Through different processing methods, starch can be modified to increase its stability, improve texture, adjust viscosity, and control gelatinization time.
Improvement Methods
Ancient ways of modifying starch include malting grains, a process that has been done for thousands of years. The plant's own enzymes modify the grain's starch. Over time, however, people began to use simple substances such as acids, bases and natural enzymes to modify starch in tailor-made ways.
For example, acid-treated starch (INS 1401) is made by treating starch or starch granules with inorganic acids, which reduces the viscosity of the starch.
Other processing methods include: dextrin, baked starch, alkaline modified starch, bleached starch and oxidized starch. These different types of modified starches are designed to improve performance in various types of applications.
The practical uses and functions of modified starch
Pregelatinized starch is widely used in ready-to-eat desserts and thickens quickly upon addition of cold water or milk. Additionally, the modified starch used in commercial pizza toppings thickens when heated in the oven, perfectly maintaining the consistency of the topping. Modified starches can also replace some fat in low-fat products, such as industrial yogurt and reduced-fat sausages.
Improved starches allow frozen products to thaw without shedding excess water and better keep ingredients bound together.
Modified starch is not limited to the food industry, there are many examples of its application in the pharmaceutical, textile and paper industries. For example, cationic starch is used as a wet-end sizing agent in the papermaking process to improve the quality of paper.
Differences between genetically modified starches
It is important to note that modified starch is different from genetically modified starch. GM starch refers to starch that comes from genetically modified plants, which may have been genetically engineered to produce new fatty acids or carbohydrates. This type of technology has attracted widespread attention in the development of biodegradable polymers and new food additives.
One of the goals of genetically modified starch research is to tweak enzymes in plants to create starch with desirable properties without having to perform enzyme treatment after starch extraction.
Conclusion
Through modified starch, our eating experience has been completely subverted. From enhancing the taste of food to improving its preservation method, modified starch has undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the diversity of modern diet. In the future, can this technology continue to drive our dietary health revolution?
