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New Directions for Starch and Glucose Research
Author(s) -
Whistler Roy L.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
starch ‐ stärke
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1521-379X
pISSN - 0038-9056
DOI - 10.1002/star.19740261003
Subject(s) - starch , sugar , fructose , chemistry , carbohydrate , biochemistry , cellulose , polysaccharide , food science , organic chemistry , enzyme
Enzymes have become a prime commercial tool for modification of starch and glucose. Today we see enzymes used to convert starch to glucose and again to convert glucose to a mixture of glucose and fructose, invert sugar in the terminology of cane and beet sugar manufacturers. We will expect to see greater use of enzymes to modify starch granules to produce a new way of dextrinization of starch. Enzymes may also be used to modify starch molecules to increase the degree of branching producing new properties among which can be those giving solutions of low viscosity, but high solids contents. Starch or glucose derivatives can also be sources of sugar for derivatizing protein to produce glycoproteins a potential new class of water soluble gums or food additives. Low caloric sweetners are possibly by more extensive modification of glucose similar to thio‐glucose or sugar sweetner attached to nondigestible polysaccharides such as cellulose. Isomerization of glucose to fructose can provide crystalline fructose which may find wider use in special diet foods. Appropriate derivatization of starch could produce polymers compatible with pure synthetic plastics in which they could act to modify and improve plastic properties.