FUNCTIONAL AND PASTING PROPERTIES OF SUCCINYLATED COCOYAM (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) STARCH: AN INSIGHT INTO ITS POTENTIAL INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

The recent increase in starch utilization for food and other applications demands research into other potential sources of starch. Hence, starch isolated from cocoyam corm, was succinylated and the functional and pasting properties were determined, to provide an insight into its potential applications. The succinylation was done by blending the cocoyam starch (CS) with succinic anhydride (SA), using the central composite rotatable design of the Design Expert software. The succinylated and native cocoyam starches were evaluated for their functional and pasting properties using standard methods. The 39.64 g CS: 7.50 M SA succinylated starch differed significantly from the native cocoyam starch in all the functional properties except swelling power. However, a succinylated starch of comparable functional and pasting properties to that of the native cocoyam starch was produced from the blends of 100.00 g CS and 3.00 M SA. Additionally, succinylation had a significant effect on all the pasting properties of the starch samples. The pasting properties of 50.00 g CS: 3.00 M SA (except breakdown viscosity), 39.64 g CS: 7.50 M SA (except pasting temperature), 110.36 g CS: 7.50 M SA (except peak viscosity), and 50.00 g CS: 12.00 M SA (except peak viscosity) succinylated starches were significantly different from the native cocoyam starch. Therefore, the succinylated cocoyam starch could find applications as a binder, thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier in the food industries, depending on the level of succinylation.