Open Access Article
Dominique
Dufour‡
*abcd,
Agnès
Rolland-Sabaté
e,
Hansel A.
Mina Cordoba
d,
Jorge Luis
Luna Melendez
d,
Jhon Larry
Moreno Alzate
d,
Mónica
Pizzaro
d,
Sophie
Guilois Dubois
f,
Teresa
Sánchez
d,
John
Eiver Belalcazar
d,
Nelson
Morante
d,
Thierry
Tran
abcd,
Martín
Moreno-Santander
g,
Gustavo
Vélez-Hernández
h and
Hernán
Ceballos‡
d
aFrench Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, CIRAD, UMR Qualisud, Montpellier, France. E-mail: dominique.dufour@cirad.fr; agnes.rolland-sabate@inrae.fr; thierry.tran@cirad.fr; hminacor@purdue.edu; j.l.luna@cgiar.org; j.l.moreno@cgiar.org; mopisa8@gmail.com; sophie.guilois-dubois@inrae.fr; tesa045@hotmail.com; johneiver@gmail.com; n.morante@cgiar.org; martin.moreno@correounivalle.edu.co; gustavel777@yahoo.com; hernanceballosl54@gmail.com
bFrench Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, CIRAD, UMR Qualisud, Cali, Colombia
cQualisud, Univ. Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ. d'Avignon, Univ. de La Réunion, Montpellier, France
dCGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), ABC: The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia
eINRAE, Avignon University, UMR SQPOV, F-84000 Avignon, France
fINRAE UR BIA–Polyphenols, Reactivity, Processes, F-35653 Le Rheu, France
gUniversidad del Valle (UniValle), Cali, Colombia
hAlmidones La Zelandia, km 52 vía Popayan - Cali, Vereda puente real, Colombia
First published on 18th August 2022
Amylose-free and wild-type cassava starches were fermented for up to 30 days and oven- or sun-dried. The specific volume (ν) after baking was measured in native and fermented starches. The average ν (across treatments) for waxy starch was 3.5 times higher than that in wild-type starches (17.6 vs. 4.8 cm3 g−1). The best wild-type starch (obtained after fermentation and sun-drying) had considerably poorer breadmaking potential than native waxy cassava (8.4 vs. 16.4 cm3 g−1, respectively). The best results were generally obtained through the synergistic combination of fermentation (for about 10–14 days) and sun-drying. Fermentation reduced viscosities and the weight average molar mass led to denser macromolecules and increased branching degree, which are linked to a high loaf volume. The absence of amylose, however, was shown to be a main determinant as well. Native waxy starch (neutral in taste, gluten-free, and considerably less expensive than the current alternatives to cassava) could become a new ingredient for the formulation of clean label-baked or fried expanded products.
Cassava flours have been used, among many applications, in composite flours and blends to improve the rheology of dough, but also to reduce bread production costs in cereal-importing countries.4 Tests showed that the sensory quality and texture of bread were little modified up to 25–30% substitution of wheat flour by cassava flour or starch.5
Ingredients for gluten-free formulations can be used in the diets of people who need food with low protein and phenylalanine contents. Among the medical foods, low-protein/protein-free foods have been shown to improve the physical manifestation of metabolic disorders in patients with amino acid or protein-related diseases, such as phenylketonuria, tyrosinaemia type I and chronic kidney and coeliac disease.6,7 The low protein content of cassava roots allows flours and starches to be used in the formulation of gluten-free bread to improve baking characteristics such as the specific volume, color and crumb structure and texture.8–11 A natural modification of cassava starch, after anaerobic fermentation for 15 to 30 days and exposure to ultraviolet light through sun-drying, is traditional in South America.12 If the fermented starch is not sun-dried, no expansion properties are acquired after processing. This naturally modified cassava sour starch is used for popular products in South America and Indonesia and the expanded products obtained are of the type of corn or wheat extrudates. Without expensive, high-tech and energy consuming equipment as extruders, the same characteristics are obtained during a simple oven cooking.13,14
Several studies report the unique properties of sour cassava starch expansion and the changes that occur during fermentation, exposure to sunlight and/or ultraviolet radiation and cooking.14,15–20 Oxidation, through different oxidative agents, is an alternative to overcome the typical sensory characteristics of fermented products.21–23 There are several commercial brands in South America, for the manufacture of cheese breads or gluten-free expanded products.24,25 In the last few years, there has been a sharp increase in the demand for clean label starch and for environmentally friendly products.26,27
Naturally occurring amylose-free (waxy) cassava mutations have been reported.28 Several programs are now developing waxy commercial varieties, and commercial production has begun in Thailand, Colombia and Brazil.29–31 Formulation trials and use of specific functional properties of waxy cassava starch are being studied at the industrial level.32–39
Molecular and supra-molecular structural characterization studies of waxy cassava amylopectin highlight a relatively high proportion of short branched chains of DP 6–12 and a low proportion of chains with DP 13–24, which is associated with retrogradation and its unique freeze–thaw and cold storage stability. Waxy cassava starch could serve as a clean-label thickener in frozen foods.34,40–42
The aim of this work was to assess the potential of waxy cassava starch and its macromolecular determinants for the development of gluten-free ingredients with ecofriendly production and clean labelling for baked products.
Solubilization and elution recoveries were calculated comparing the mass before and after filtration, and the mass eluted in the AF4 channel as previously described.46 The weight-average molar mass (
w) and z-average radius of gyration (
G) were established using ASTRA® software from Wyatt Technology Corporation (version 6.0 for PC), as previously described.46 Branching characteristics were calculated as described by Rolland-Sabaté and co-workers.33,34,46,47 The average number of branching points per macromolecule (
) and the average number of glucosyl units in a linear chain per branching point
were obtained from the molar mass and radius of gyration data through the average shrinking factor gM (gM =
2Gw(br)/
2Gw(lin), where
Gw(br) and
Gw(lin) are the weight average radii of gyration of the branched molecule and of its linear equivalent at the same molar mass).
Gw(lin) was calculated from the equation linking the molar mass and radius of gyration established for strictly linear amyloses using the ABC model. The branching degree (BDmC) was finally deduced using the modified ABC model corrected for cassava amylopectin.34,47
The available information was organized in three different experiments to guarantee uniformity of conditions in which plants grew, and starches were fermented and processed. Fermentation is a natural process without inoculum; the bacterial flora comes from the processing of the roots and the washing and sieving of the pulp. The first subsample was oven-dried at 40 °C for 24 h to obtain native, non-fermented, oven-dried cassava starch [N,O]. The second subsample was sun-dried for about 12 h to obtain non-fermented, sun-dried starch [N,S]. The third and fourth subsamples were fermented together in a tank at ambient temperature (between 20 and 30 °C) for up to 30 days. The third subsample was oven-dried for 24 h at 40 °C to obtain fermented, oven-dried starch [F,O], whereas the fourth was sun-dried for 12 h to obtain fermented, sun-dried starch [F,S].
Experiment 1 included three genotypes: AM 206-5, Cumbre3 and HMC-1 grown and processed at the same time in two different years (2013 and 2015A). For each genotype, four starch samples were considered: [N,O], native, oven-dried; [N,S], native, sun-dried; [F,O], fermented, oven-dried; and [F,S], fermented, sun-dried. Experiment 2 included two genotypes: AM 206-5 and ICA-48 grown and processed at the same time in 2015B. For each genotype, four starch samples were considered: [N,O], [N,S], [F,O] and [F,S]. Experiment 3 involved the assessment of the breadmaking capacity of mixtures of amylose-free (AM 206-5) and wild-type (HMC-1) native starches (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100% waxy starch).
Fig. 1 shows the comparison of wild-type and waxy starches. Only sun-dried [S] starches were considered because oven-dried [O] did not allow development of the benefit of fermentation on expansion. The excellent breadmaking capacity of waxy starch (AM 206-5) is apparent. No other starch, regardless of the treatment, resulted in a better performance in comparison with native waxy starch. In general, ν of waxy starches increased consistently through fermentation time. On the other hand, ν of wild-type starches from Cumbre3 (2013), ICA-48 (2014A) and HMC-1 (2013) tended to increase sharply after one or two days of fermentation and then to decline. Data from 2015B, however, showed gradual increases of ν through the time of fermentation. The highland variety Cumbre3 provided the best results from non-waxy starches, particularly for the evaluation conducted in 2013. Different batches (years 2013, 2015A and 2015B) resulted in distinctive performances, suggesting that environmental and biological conditions during plant growth have strong effects as reported by Karlström48 on waxy cassava starch and on cassava landrace starches.49,50
By and large, responses to fermentation from each source of starch could be reliably summarized using data from 10 days of fermentation, which is a useful reference time in relation to commercial production of fermented starches. To facilitate the statistical analyses comparing native and fermented starches, only data from 0 and 10 days of fermentation were used (other times would also confirm the drastic differences between waxy and wild-type starches). All the main sources of variation in Experiments 1 and 2 were highly significant (P = 0.01, ANOVA tables are not presented). The effect of years (Experiment 1) was highly significant and resulted in strong interactions with other sources of variation. In every case, ν was lower in the year 2015A compared with the results from 2013 (Fig. 2).
It was decided, therefore, to conduct individual analyses for each year. All sources of variation were statistically significant, except for the triple interaction (genotype*fermenting*drying) in year 2015 (ANOVA tables are not presented). By far, the most important source of variation was genotypes, accounting for about 85% of the total sum of squares. Fig. 2 and Table 1 summarize the relevant results from Experiment 1.
| Experiment 1 | Experiment 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source of variation | 2013 | Source of variation | 2015A | Source of variation | 2015B |
| AM 206-5 | 19.7a | AM 206-5 | 15.3a | AM 206-5 | 17.6a |
| Cumbre3 | 7.1b | Cumbre3 | 3.9b | ICA-48 | 4.9b |
| HMC-1 | 4.5c | HMC-1 | 3.5b | ||
| Fermented [F] | 12.0a | Fermented [F] | 8.2a | Fermented [F] | 12.4a |
| Native [N] | 8.9b | Native [N] | 6.8b | Native [N] | 10.1b |
| Sun-dried [S] | 10.7a | Sun-dried [S] | 7.9a | Sun-dried [S] | 12.0a |
| Oven-dried [O] | 10.2b | Oven-dried [O] | 7.1b | Oven-dried [O] | 10.5b |
| AM 206-5 [F,S] | 22.2a | AM 206-5 [F,O] | 17.1a | AM 206-5 [F,S] | 19.5a |
| AM 206-5 [F,O] | 21.9a | AM 206-5 [F,S] | 15.9b | AM 206-5 [F,O] | 18.6a |
| AM 206-5 [N,O] | 19.1b | AM 206-5 [N,O] | 14.5c | AM 206-5 [N,S] | 16.4b |
| AM 206-5 [N,S] | 15.5c | AM 206-5 [N,S] | 13.5c | AM 206-5 [N,O] | 16.0b |
| Cumbre3 [F,S] | 10.4d | Cumbre3 [F,S] | 6.3d | ICA-48 [F,S] | 7.7c |
| Cumbre3 [F,O] | 8.4e | HMC-1 [F,S] | 4.8e | ICA-48 [N,S] | 4.5d |
| Cumbre3 [N,S] | 5.6f | Cumbre3 [N,S] | 3.7fg | ICA-48 [F,O] | 3.9d |
| HMC-1 [N,S] | 5.4fg | HMC-1 [N,S] | 3.5g | ICA-48 [N,O] | 3.5d |
| HMC-1 [F,S] | 4.9gh | Cumbre3 [N,O] | 3.0gh | ||
| Cumbre3 [N,O] | 4.1hi | HMC-1 [N,O] | 2.9gh | ||
| HMC-1 [F,O] | 4.0hi | HMC-1 [F,O] | 2.8h | ||
| HMC-1 [N,O] | 3.7i | Cumbre3 [F,O] | 2.6h | ||
The averages (across fermented and native starches and after oven- and sun-drying) of the three genotypes were highly contrasting (provided at the top of Table 1). There is an unprecedented ν of the amylose-free starch from AM 206-5 (19.7 and 15.3 cm3 g−1 respectively for 2013 and 2015A), compared with the wild-types (7.1 and 3.9 cm3 g−1 for Cumbre3 and 4.5 and 3.5 cm3 g−1 HMC-1, respectively, for years 2013 and 2015A). ν from the highland variety Cumbre3 were higher than those of the lowland clone (HMC-1), particularly in year 2013. In general, for each genotype, fermented starches [F] resulted in higher ν compared with the native [N] counterparts.
Contrary to wild-type starches, the expansion of waxy starches was generally better in oven-dried samples than in sun-dried samples. In every case, however, fermentation resulted in increased expansion regardless of the drying method. Illumination of the starches with linearly polarised visible light induced depolymerisation–repolymerisation reactions of starch polysaccharide chains.51 Rearrangements of the molecular starch structure depend on the illumination time and the botanical source of the starch. Structural changes lead to the resulting products with different functional properties. On the other hand, [S] was always better than [O] (within starch type) in wild-type starches from Cumbre3 and HMC-1.
Results from Experiment 2 are presented in Table 1 and Fig. 3.
As in the case of Experiment 1, every main source of variation was significant, and the genotypes accounted for a large proportion of the total sum of squares (≈ 92%). Fermentation had a higher impact on ν than the drying method as it was in the case of Experiment 1. The average from AM 206-5 (17.6 cm3 g−1) was an intermediate between the values obtained in Experiment 1 and considerably higher than that of ICA-48 (4.9 cm3 g−1). Fermentation resulted in clearly higher ν values compared with native starches in both genotypes (Fig. 3). In contrast with Experiment 1, sun drying was better than oven-drying for AM 206-5. However, these differences were not significant (Table 1).
Experiment 3 assessed the breadmaking potential of the mixtures of wild-type and waxy native starches. Eleven mixtures (0 through 100% waxy starch, with 10% increments) were prepared and baked. Regression analysis (Fig. 4A) demonstrated a significant positive association between the percentage of waxy starch and ν, with R2 = 0.9656. Fig. 4B illustrates the differences between [N,O], [N,S] [F,O] and [F,O] from Cumbre3.
Visco-amylograms and the extracted relevant pasting properties from Experiment 1 (2013 and 2015A) are shown in Fig. 5 and Table 2.
| Genotypes | Starch type | Drying method | Year | Pasting | Viscosity | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pasting time (Pt) | Pasting temperature (PT) | Peak viscosity (PV1) | Peak viscosity (PV2) | Holding strength (HPV) | Final viscosity (FV) | Breakdown (PVmax-HPV) | Setback (FV-HPV) | ||||
| (min) | (°C) | (cP) | |||||||||
| Fermentation drastically reduced viscosities with a stronger effect of fermentation compared to UV irradiation. Reductions were larger in [S] than in [O] starches. | |||||||||||
| AM 206-5 | [N] | [O] | 2013 | 3.8 | 67.0 | 872 | * | 526 | 578 | 346 | 52 |
| AM 206-5 | [N] | [S] | 2013 | 3.9 | 67.2 | 884 | * | 587 | 715 | 297 | 128 |
| AM 206-5 | [F] | [O] | 2013 | 3.8 | 66.7 | 617 | * | 178 | 181 | 439 | 3 |
| AM 206-5 | [F] | [S] | 2013 | 4.0 | 68.2 | 364 | * | 24 | 32 | 340 | 8 |
| AM 206-5 | [N] | [O] | 2015 | 3.9 | 67.3 | 1083 | * | 659 | 723 | 424 | 64 |
| AM 206-5 | [N] | [S] | 2015 | 3.9 | 67.5 | 1035 | * | 802 | 911 | 233 | 109 |
| AM 206-5 | [F] | [O] | 2015 | 3.9 | 67.0 | 778 | * | 338 | 360 | 440 | 22 |
| AM 206-5 | [F] | [S] | 2015 | 4.0 | 67.7 | 844 | * | 227 | 316 | 617 | 89 |
| Cumbre3 | [N] | [O] | 2013 | 2.8 | 61.0 | 917 | * | 427 | 586 | 490 | 159 |
| Cumbre3 | [N] | [S] | 2013 | 2.9 | 61.0 | 965 | * | 530 | 766 | 435 | 236 |
| Cumbre3 | [F] | [O] | 2013 | 2.8 | 60.6 | 811 | * | 259 | 361 | 552 | 102 |
| Cumbre3 | [F] | [S] | 2013 | 3.1 | 62.5 | 497 | * | 93 | 137 | 404 | 44 |
| Cumbre3 | [N] | [O] | 2015 | 3.0 | 62.0 | 1012 | 1077 | 756 | 1067 | 321 | 311 |
| Cumbre3 | [N] | [S] | 2015 | 3.0 | 62.1 | 957 | 1047 | 711 | 1028 | 336 | 317 |
| Cumbre3 | [F] | [O] | 2015 | 3.0 | 62.0 | 833 | * | 249 | 346 | 584 | 97 |
| Cumbre3 | [F] | [S] | 2015 | 3.2 | 63.5 | 738 | * | 206 | 290 | 532 | 84 |
| HMC-1 | [N] | [O] | 2013 | 3.7 | 66.0 | 611 | * | 365 | 530 | 246 | 165 |
| HMC-1 | [N] | [S] | 2013 | 3.7 | 65.9 | 550 | * | 307 | 470 | 243 | 163 |
| HMC-1 | [F] | [O] | 2013 | 3.6 | 65.6 | 527 | * | 160 | 215 | 367 | 55 |
| HMC-1 | [F] | [S] | 2013 | 4.0 | 67.8 | 211 | * | 28 | 45 | 183 | 17 |
| HMC-1 | [N] | [O] | 2015 | 3.4 | 64.6 | 888 | 999 | 694 | 1029 | 305 | 335 |
| HMC-1 | [N] | [S] | 2015 | 3.6 | 65.6 | 791 | 890 | 689 | 999 | 201 | 310 |
| HMC-1 | [F] | [O] | 2015 | 3.6 | 65.3 | 764 | * | 487 | 700 | 277 | 213 |
| HMC-1 | [F] | [S] | 2015 | 3.6 | 65.6 | 824 | * | 396 | 620 | 428 | 224 |
Analysis of RVA amylograms from different genotypes confirmed the previous results (Maldonado Alvarado et al., 2013).14
The year of harvest significantly influences the viscosity profile of native starches. In 2015 amylograms, two very distinct peaks were observed for the wild types and only one for the amylose-free starch, whereas in 2013 only one peak was visible for all native starches (Fig. 5).
The hypothesis put forward by Maldonado et al.14 concerning a correlation between breakdown and breadmaking ability has not been confirmed in our trials, even if breakdown is much higher for Cumbre3 than for HCM-1. This is no longer true for waxy cassava starch which develops the highest breadmaking ability.
w and ν after baking, no relationship could be demonstrated between the amylopectin
w of native starches and ν (Table 3). Thus, the macromolecular determining factor for expansion seemed to be the amylose content in native samples, as when this decreased (HMC-1 (21.7%) > Cumbre3 (16.7%) > AM 206-5 (0%)), the ν increased.14,28 These findings confirmed the previous reports on wild type cassava, postulating that amylose prevents expansion through the formation of a sample-wide network of amylose-lipid complexes.14
![]() | ||
Fig. 6 AF4 elugrams, molar mass distributions, and evolution of the macromolecular characteristics with fermentation in relation to the breadmaking capacity. (A) Sun-dried AM 206-5 native starches (dark blue), 30-days fermented (clear blue); (B) oven-dried AM 206-5 native starches (dark red), 30-days fermented (clear red); (C) Cumbre3 native starches, 30-days fermented and sun-dried (dark and clear green) and Cumbre3 native starches, 30-days fermented and oven-dried (dark and clear pink); (D) 30-days fermented and sun-dried Cumbre3 starches (clear green) and HMC-1 starches (clear grey); (E) evolution of the weight-average molar mass (squares) and branching degree (circles) of AM 206-5 after sun drying (empty symbols) and oven drying (filled symbols) according to the fermentation time; and (F) evolution of the weight-average molar mass (empty squares) and dGapp (filled circles) of AM 206-5 after different fermentation times and sun drying according to the specific volume ν (breadmaking capacity). (G) Evolution of the weight-average molar mass (empty squares) and dGapp (filled circles) of starches containing amylose (Cumbre3 and HMC-1) before and after 30 days of fermentation and sun- and oven-drying according to the specific volume ν (breadmaking capacity). The branching degree obtained from the molar mass and radius of gyration data using the modified ABC model corrected for cassava amylopectin;34,47dGapp: apparent molecular density , with GW as the weight-average radius of gyration. For A to D, the thin and thick lines correspond to the elugrams and molar masses, respectively. The dotted and continuous lines in F represent the linear correlations of ν with the molar mass and dGapp, respectively (R2 = 0.91 and 0.93, respectively). The dotted and continuous lines in G represent the linear correlations of ν with the molar mass and dGapp, respectively (R2 = 0.76 and 0.76, respectively). Starches were obtained from the cassava harvested in 2011; Cumbre3 and HMC-1 starches were the same as studied in Maldonado Alvarado et al.,14 and the amylose content in native samples was HMC-1 (21.7%) > Cumbre3 (16.7%) > AM 206-5 (0%). | ||
| Clone | Fermentation | Drying |
w × 107 (g mol−1) |
G (nm) |
d Gapp (g/mol nm−3) | BDmC (%) | ν (cm3 g−1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
w: weight-average molar mass; G: z-average radius of gyration; dGapp: apparent molecular density ( , with GW as the weight-average radius of gyration); BDmC: the branching degree obtained from Mw and RG data using the modified ABC model corrected for cassava amylopectin;34,47ν: the specific volume (breadmaking capacity). For all macromolecular characteristics, values were taken over the whole amylopectin peak, and standard deviations were about 5%. Cumbre3 and HMC-1 starches were the same as studied in Maldonado Alvarado et al.,14 and the corresponding ν were reported from that reference. |
|||||||
| AM 206-5 | Native | Sun | 44.0 | 267 | 9.4 | 5.3 | 16 |
| AM 206-5 | Native | Oven | 40.7 | 261 | 9.4 | 5.3 | 11 |
| AM 206-5 | Fermented | Sun | 9.9 | 156 | 15.1 | 7.3 | 20 |
| AM 206-5 | Fermented | Oven | 20.2 | 202 | 12.4 | 6.5 | 19 |
| Cumbre3 | Native | Sun | 22.2 | 211 | 11.4 | 6.0 | 3 |
| Cumbre3 | Native | Oven | 19.4 | 205 | 12.2 | 6.4 | 2 |
| Cumbre3 | Fermented | Sun | 6.3 | 141 | 16.8 | 7.6 | 10 |
| Cumbre3 | Fermented | Oven | 15.7 | 184 | 13.6 | 7.0 | 4 |
| HMC-1 | Native | Sun | 25.1 | 220 | a.12.1 | b.6.7 | c.2 |
| d.HMC-1 | e.Native | f.Oven | g.33.9 | h.256 | i.11.0 | j.6.3 | k.1 |
| l.HMC-1 | m.Fermented | n.Sun | o.22.2 | p.231 | q.11.5 | r.6.0 | s.5 |
| t.HMC-1 | u.Fermented | v.Oven | w.22.2 | x.217 | y.12.0 | z.6.4 | aa.3 |
After fermentation, AM 206-5 and Cumbre3 showed significant modifications of AF4 elugrams and molar mass patterns, especially after sun-drying (Fig. 6A–C). The main population shifted towards a lower molecular size, and a new peak appeared for AM 206-5 [F,S], and a dramatic increase of the shoulder corresponding to amylose was observed for Cumbre3 (Fig. 5C). Moreover, the amylopectin
w decreased, and the apparent molecular density dGapp and branching degree BDmC determined from AF4-MALLS data showed higher values after fermentation for AM 206-5 and Cumbre3, especially after sun-drying (Table 3).34,47
Fermentation thus produced smaller and more branched macromolecules in line with the production of highly branched dextrins through amylopectin main chain scission.52,53 As ν increased after fermentation for AM 206-5 and Cumbre3, it could be related to the capacity of the production of highly branched dextrins. Moreover, and in line with this hypothesis, fermentation seemed to have no impact on the amylopectin macromolecular characteristics of HMC-1 which showed a poor ν performance (Fig. 6D and Table 3).
The
w of AM 206-5 amylopectin decreased and BDmC increased with fermentation time (Fig. 6E), with a more dramatic evolution after sun-drying. Actually, the UV exposure during sun-drying induced additional photodegradation of amylopectin favoured by the oxidation caused by fermentation,52 which is also observed here for Cumbre3 (Table 3). After 7 days of fermentation, the synergy of the two treatments appeared (Fig. 6E). The drastic modifications of amylopectin with this dual treatment were also highlighted by the lower molar mass distributions observed in Fig. 6A, which indicated an extension of the macromolecular conformation in solution. This behaviour could be the result of chain repulsion caused by the high chain oxidation produced by the synergetic action of lactic fermentation and photodegradation. The
w of native AM 206-5 amylopectin was the highest but was also the most drastically reduced after fermentation, particularly after sun-drying (Table 3); this could be due to the absence of amylose.
The v performance for sun-dried AM 206-5 showed linear correlations with
w, dGapp (Fig. 6F and Table 3) and the branching degree (results not shown): the ν is higher when the molar mass decreases and the amylopectin branching increases. As AM 206-5 represented the amylopectin component of wild type starches, it can be concluded that besides the amylose content, the production of low molar mass and highly branched dextrins is the determinant for starch baking performance. This hypothesis was confirmed by the linear correlations also observed between the v performance and
w and dGapp for starches containing amylose (Fig. 6G and Table 3).
Crystallinity and % of A type crystallites (Fig. 7) were not affected by the level of fermentation nor by the way of drying, as was expected from a previous report,52 but contrary to the observations of Qi et al.53 This demonstrated that amorphous lamellae as well as the starch semi-crystalline domains were degraded under the present conditions.
![]() | ||
| Fig. 7 Crystallinity characteristics of native and 30-day fermented starches, oven-dried and sun-dried. [N-S]: native and sun-dried; [N-O]: native and oven-dried; [F-S]: fermented and sun-dried; [F-O]: fermented and oven-dried; % of crystallinity (blue); % of B-type crystallites (red). Starches were obtained from the cassava harvested in 2011; Cumbre3 and HMC-1 starches were the same as studied in Maldonado Alvarado et al.,14 and the amylose content in native samples was HMC-1 (21.7%) > Cumbre3 (16.7%) > AM 206-5 (0%). | ||
However, Cumbre3 mainly exhibited B-type crystallites (65%), whereas AM 206-5 and HMC-1 exhibited a majority of A-type crystals (90–95%), and the crystallinity of all starches were not significantly different (Fig. 7). B-type crystals, which are loosely packed, are believed to be more susceptible to oxidation; the better expansion properties of fermented Cumbre3 after sun-drying compared to HMC-1 might thus be due to the combination of a lower amylose content (HMC-1 (21.7%) > Cumbre3 (16.7%))14 and higher macromolecular degradation (Fig. 6C and D) favored by the crystalline type of Cumbre3. The difference of expansion behavior between Cumbre3 and HMC-1 after sun-drying does not seem to be linked to a difference in the fermentation extent in Cumbre3 and HMC-1. Indeed, modification of the macromolecular characteristics of starches from Cumbre3 and HMC-1 has been shown to be negligible after 30 days fermentation and oven-drying (see above, Fig. 6C and D and Table 3). Nevertheless, the higher value of the molar mass of native HMC-1 and consequently of its residual molar mass after 30 days fermentation (Table 3) might also play a role in its weaker expansion properties.
Macromolecular information shows that the breadmaking potential is mainly determined by the number of linear chains and is favored by fermentation and sun-drying through a reduction in amylopectin molar mass and the production of macromolecules with increased branching degree. Some of these characteristics, together with the absence of amylose, are outstanding in the case of waxy cassava and explain its excellent breadmaking potential.
The most important conclusion is the outstanding expansion performance of amylose-free starches. The most economical version of this starch (native and oven-dried) offered obvious advantages over the more processed (fermented and sun-dried) alternatives from wild-type genotypes. Waxy cassava starch, therefore, can emerge as a less-expensive, gluten-free, clean label, and neutral taste alternative for baked and expanded products.
Footnotes |
| † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d2fo00048b |
| ‡ These authors contributed equally to this work. |
| This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022 |