Gelatinization and solubility of corn starch during heating in excess water: new insights.

Starch gelatinization is associated with the disruption of granular structure causing starch molecules to disperse in water. This study was designed to examine starch granules as they were heated in water, and their resulting morphological, structural, and solubility traits. The results indicate that starch gelatinization is a more complex process than the previously suggested order-to-disorder transition. The energy absorbed by the granules facilitates the rearrangement or formation of new bonds among molecules prior to the temperatures normally associated with the melting of amylopectin crystallites during gelatinization. It is also evident that amylose plays an important role during the initial stages of corn starch gelatinization.