Mediator facilitated, laccase catalysed oxidation of granular potato starch and the physico-chemical characterisation of the oxidized products.

The primary hydroxyl groups in potato starch were selectively oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde and carboxylic acid functionalities by mediators like TEMPO, using laccase from fungi as catalytic oxidant and oxygen as the primary oxidant. Oxidized starch products with degree of substitution (DS(CHO) ranging from 0.16 to 16.4/100AGU and DS(COOH) from 0.01 to 3.71 carboxyl groups/100AGU) were obtained with mediator facilitated enzymatic oxidation. Maximum conversion of the primary alcohol group was obtained at a pH of 5, with TEMPO as mediator, under oxygen bubbling and two step administration of Trametes versicolor laccase (200+200 nkat/g of starch). The oxidized products were characterised by IR spectroscopy, XRD and thermal studies. In the oxidized samples, the larger starch granules exhibited cracks and fractures in comparison to the smaller granules which were relatively unaffected, as observed from the microstructural studies.