THE EFFECTS OF ISOLATION SOLUTIONS ON THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF COCOYAM STARCH (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L) Schott)
Daftar Isi:
- One of the starch sources in Indonesia that still lacking in its utilization is cocoyam starch. Cocoyam is chosen because it is the one of tuber types which still needs development to be processed. High content of carbohydrate in cocoyam showes that it has a great potential to be starch source, as cassava, corn, etc. Generally, the isolation method of tuber starch is simple, only by using water as the solvent. Developing the method using different solvents is needed to improve the physicochemical and functional characteristics of kimpul starch. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of different starch isolation methods on the physicochemical and functional characteristics of cocoyam starch. This research used 3 different types of solutions i.e. aquades, Na2SO3 (Sodium Sulfite), and NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide). The initial stage of this study was to produce starch from cocoyam tubers using three different soaking solutions. After that, the obtained cocoyam starch was analyzed based on the physicochemical and functional characteristics such as water content, whiteness degree, starch granule morphology, amylose content, gel formation capacity, and water absorption index / wetness level. The results showed that the starch isolation treatment with different soaking solutions did not give significant effects on the amylose content and water absorption index of the cocoyam starch, but gave significant effects on moisture content, white degree, granule morphology, and gel formation capacity of kimpul starch. Treatment using NaOH as the soaking solution gave more effective results to increase the value of the gel formation capacity of the kimpul starch compared to aquades and Na2SO3.