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Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305
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Physicochemical, thermal properties and microstructure of six

varieties of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) flours and starches
Aboubakar a, Y.N. Njintang b,
*, J. Scher c, C.M.F. Mbofung a
a ENSAI, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 455, Ngaoundere, Cameroon bFaculty of Sciences, University of Ngaoundere,
P.O. Box 454, Ngaoundere, Cameroon cLaboratoire de Science et Ge ́ nie Alimentaires, ENSAIA-INPL. 2, avenue de la Forêt de
Haye, B.P. 172, 54500 Vandoeuvre-le`s-Nancy, France
Received 29 November 2006; received in revised form 4 October 2007; accepted 9 October 2007 Available online 17 October
2007
Abstract
Taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) flours were prepared from six varieties of taro corms coded as RIN, RIE, CN, CE, KW1
and KW2. Starch yields prepared from the flours varied between 66.5% for KW2 to 86.6% for RIE. The proteins content varied
from 2.9% for KW1 to 4.9% for CN in the flours. Taro starch had irregular, polygonal shapes and small granular sizes. A wide
variation was observed in the granular diameter of each of the starch samples and between the samples. The amylose contents
varied from 14.7 ± 1.64% to 30.85 ± 0.63% as determined by the DSC method. The taro starch contained 0.2–0.6% lipids and 2%
ash. The onset gelatinisation temperatures of the taro flours varied from 55.2 to 65.49 °C, whereas those of the starches are
between 48.08 ± 2.46 for KW2 and 64.37 ± 2.35 °C for KW1. Retrogradation of the starches and the flours, as measured by their
enthalpy changes, appeared to vary significantly between the varieties. The water absorption capacity varied from 240% to 470%
and from 60% to 250% for the flours and starches samples, respectively. Taro flours had higher solubility index than their starch
counterparts. Among the varieties, RIN and CE starches had the highest solubility whereas KW1 starch had the lowest. The
sorption study also revealed the high ability of the taro flours to absorb water compared to their starch components. Ó 2007
Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Taro; Starch; Flour; Microscopy; Physicochemical properties; Functional properties
1. Introduction
Taro (Colocassia esculenta) is a tropical tuber crop lar- gely produced for its underground corms and consumed
in tropical areas of the world. Taro has been reported to have 70–80% starch with small granules (Jane et al., 1992).
Taro is also rich in gums (mucilage) and up to 9.1% crude taro mucilage has been extracted from taro cor- ms (Hong
and Nip, 1990). Because of the small sizes of its starch granules, taro is highly digestible, and as such has been
reported to be used for the preparation of infant foods in Hawaii and other Pacific islands (Nip, 1997).
Despite its nutritional, industrial and health importance, taro has not gained sufficient research attention to
enhance its potential. In addition to this fact, it has a high post har- vest loss due to its high moisture content
(Agbor-Egbe, 1991). As such taro has a poor position on the food secu- rity profile of countries. In fact, it has been
estimated that there is an average of 30% loss during storage of these tubers, and that this portion could resolve
starvation prob- lems in non-developed countries (Agbor-Egbe, 1991). In order to minimize tuber losses, they must
be converted from perishable to non-perishable through food processing operations. Since the transformation into
starch or flour will decrease losses after the tubers have been harvested, value added processes such as drying and
milling may be
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +237 99 870979.
E-mail address: njintang@yahoo.fr (Y.N. Njintang).
useful in order to obtain flours and starches from these tubers. Before consideration is given to taro as potential
0260-8774/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2007.10.006
sources of flour and starch to produce foods, it is necessary to characterize their chemical composition, physical,
phys- icochemical and functional properties. According to Nip (1997) taro corms and cormels are potential sources
of flour and industrial starch that has not yet been utilized. It is therefore clear that a significant amount of work
remains to be done on the functional characteristics of native taro starch if it is ever to become competitive with
commercial starches such as corn, wheat and potato.
Some chemical and physical properties of taro starches and flours have been reported on several Hawaiian (Jane
et al., 1992; Sugimoto et al., 1986) and Cameroonian (Mbo- fung et al., 2006; Njintang et al., 2007a) varieties. But
few have been interested on their functional properties. Tagodoe and Nip (1994) reported the functional properties
of raw and precooked taro flours. In addition, Jane et al. (1992) reported the physical, microscopic and thermal
properties of some Hawaiian taro flours and starches. Njintang (2003) initiated the study of some functional
properties of Cameroonian taro flour. Latter on Mbofung et al. (2006) reported some functional properties of six
varieties of Came- roonian taro flour. Njintang and Mbofung (2006) investi- gated the effect of precooking time and
drying temperature on the physicochemical characteristics and in vitro carbohy- drate digestibility of taro flour.
More recently, Njintang et al. (2007b) investigated the relation between the biochem- ical characteristics of taro
flour and the colour of the paste made from its. Njintang et al. (2007a) studied the functional properties of taro flour
and their relationship to creep recov- ery and sensory characteristics of the paste made from it. In the same vein,
Njintang et al. (2007c) evaluated the effect of taro flour reconstitution on the texture profile of achu. In addition,
Njintang et al. (in press) evaluated the effect of taro flour addition on the functional and alveographic properties of
wheat flour and dough. Despite of increasing interest in taro, studies on the properties of its flour and starch
remained scarce.
The aim of this study therefore was to obtain knowledge about the physicochemical, microstructure and flow
behav- iour of starches and flours produced from six varieties of Cameroonian taro corms.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sampling and production of flours
Six varieties of taro corms and cormels, coded WCN, WCE, RIE, RIN, KW1, KW2, were used for the study.
They were freshly harvested at 8–9 months of maturity from family farms in Ngaoundere. The corms and cormels
were thoroughly washed with tap water hand peeled and trimmed to remove defective parts. Then the tubers were
sliced and dried in air convection (CK-2000) at 50 ± 2 °C. The dried slices were first hammer milled (Cul- atti
polymix, France) to pass through a 500 lm screen. The flours were divided into two parts: one part was stored in
polyethylene bags and kept in a refrigerator at 4 °C prior
Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305 295
to use while the second part was used for isolation of starch.
2.2. Isolation of taro starch
Taro flour (100 g) was steeped in water solution (3 L) at 35 °C for 12 h. The slurry obtained was homogenised
for 30min using a commercial blender (model moulinex, France). The suspension obtained was screened using 150
lm sieve and keep to sediment for 24 h. The crude starch was then collected and washed twice with water, dried for
48 h in an oven set at 50 °C and carefully stored in sealed and dried polyethylene bags until required for analysis.
The yield of extraction of starch was evaluated by the gravimetric method of Singh et al. (1989).
2.3. Proximate and mineral analysis
Flours of each tuber were analysed for moisture (air oven method), fat (Soxhlet) and ash (incineration method)
con- tent, as a percentage (w/w), following AACC standard methods (1990). Total proteins (Nx6.25) was analysed
using approved methods of Kjeldahl (AACC, 1990) in semi auto- matic machine (GEHARDT, Paris, France).
Reducing sug- ars were analysed using the colorimetric method of Fisher and Stein (1961). Phosphorous content of
starches and flours, as a percentage of sample weight (w/w), was deter- mined following the spectrophotometric
method of AOAC (2000) while minerals (Ca, Na, Mg, K, Mn, Mg, Fe) con- tent, as a percentage of sample weight
(w/w), were analysed using an atomic absorption (AA) spectrophotometer.
2.4. Determination of the amylose content and amyloglucosidase hydrolysable starch
Amylose content was analysed using a DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) method as described by Mestre et
al. (1996). The amylose content was calculated using the equation:
Amyloseð%Þ 1⁄4 100 Â
A DH Â 2
DH
1
,
where A and S were, respectively, the weights of the stan- dard amylose and sample used in the experiment, DH
1 and DH
2
ÂS
their respective enthalpy change.
2.5. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements (DSC)
DSC thermograms of taro starches and flours were recorded on a Perkin–Elmer model Pyris1 (Perkin–Elmer
Corp Norwalk. USA), with heating rate of 5 °C/min and temperature rate range of 25–98 °C. Starch, flour or
amylose were dispersed in distilled water (1:3; w/v) in an aluminium pan and hermetically sealed. The instrument
was calibrated for temperature and enthalpy measurement with indium, and an empty pan was used as reference.
The manufactur- ers’ software was used to calculate the heat capacity and
integrate the peaks. The onset and end temperatures of the gelatinisation peaks were determined by the intersection
of tangents fitted to the leading and trailing flanks of the peak with the baseline.
2.6. Colour characterisation
Colour measurements of the starch were carried out using a Chromameter CR210 (Minolta France S.A.S., Car-
rrie`res-sur-Seine) on the basis of L* a* and b* values. The instrument was calibrated against a standard light
yellow- coloured reference tile. A glass cell containing the pow- dered flour was placed above the light source and
covered with a white plate and L*, a* and b* values were recorded.
2.7. Starch particle analysis and pasting properties
A Coulter Particle Counter, Model Mastesizer S (Mal- vern Instruments, Orsay) was used to measure the percent
volume of starch particles distributed within selected size ranges for dry powder measurement/loose particle
distribu- tion as described by Njintang et al. (2006).
Flow behaviour of 2.5% flour and starch samples in dis- tilled water heated at 80 °C for 10 min were investigated
at 25 ± 1 °C by a parallel plate rotational rheometer (Stress tech, UK). The paste was allowed to equilibrate for 5
min and was tested using a 1 mm gap. The sample was sheared at a programmed rate linearly increasing from 0 to
200 sÀ1 in 300 s.
2.8. Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and adsorption isotherm
The EMC of the taro starch was determined at 20 °C according to the static gravimetric method of Wolf et al.
(1985). The desorption isotherms were determined on sam- ples hydrated in a glass jar over distilled water at a room
temperature to approximately 30% dry basis moisture content. Samples of 1 ± 0.02 g were weighed in weighing
bottles which were put in hygrostats with seven saturated salt solutions (LiCl, MgCl
2
,K
2
CO
3
, NaBr, NaCl, KCl) used to obtain constant water activities environments
between 0.1 and 0.9 (Bell and Labuza, 2000). All the salts used were of reagent grade. At high water activities (a
w
> 0.70) crystalline thymol was placed in the hygrostats to prevent the microbial spoilage of the flour. The hygro-
stats were kept in thermostats at 20 ± 0.2 °C. Samples were weighed (balance sensitivity ± 0.0001 g) every three
days. Equilibrium was acknowledged when three consecutive weight measurements showed a difference less than
0.001 g. The moisture content of each sample was deter- mined by the oven method (105 °C for 24 h) by means of
triplicate measurements. The resulting adsorption curve was tested to follow the Oswin model of adsorption of the
general form M (g/g) = Ax[a
w
/(1 À a
w
)]B where M is the moisture content expressed in g/g dried weight, and a
w
is the water activity. The constant A (g/g) and C were
deter-
296 Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305
mined using the nonlinear power equation category of Sigma plot 8.02 (Chicago, IL, USA) statistical package.
2.9. Microstructure of starch granules
Granule morphology was examined using scanning elec- tron microscope (SEM) microscope. A thin layer of
starch granule was mounted on the aluminium specimen holder by double-sided tape. The specimen holder was
loaded in a Emitech K550 sputter coater (Emitech, Ashford, UK). It was coated with gold palladium, with a
thickness of about 30 nm. Scanning electron microscopy was carried out using a Leica Stereoscan 360 SEM (LEO,
Cambridge, UK) operated at an accelerating voltage of 10 kV. Light micrograph of the starch samples colored with
diluted iodine in potassium iodide was taken with a Diplan-micro- scope Model GF (Leitz Wetzlar Germany).
2.10. Water absorption capacity and water solubility index of taro flour and starch
For the determination of these variables, 0.5 g of starch was suspended in 10 mL of distilled water and incubated
with mixing for 15 min in a shaking water-bath (Kotter- mann, Germany) set at 70 °C and centrifuged at 5000 rpm
for 30 min. The pellet was dried at 105 °C for 12 h and the water absorption capacity and the water solubility index
evaluated according to Anderson et al. (1969) and Phillips et al. (1988), respectively.
2.11. Infrared spectroscopy of taro flour and starches
Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to evaluate structural differences in the samples. An
appropriate amount of starch powder was pressed into a crystal window and the FT-IR spectra were recorded on a
Fourier transform infra red spectrometer in absorbance mode from 4000 to 400cmÀ1, co-adding 32 scans at 4 cmÀ1
resolution (Van Soest et al., 1995). Ten replicates were collected for each sample. The obtained spectra were
transferred into a data analysis package.
2.12. Statistical analysis
All analyses were carried out in triplicate and data expressed as means ± standard deviation. Analysis of var-
iance was performed to calculate significant differences in treatment means, and Duncan multiple test range was
used to separate means using the Statgraphics (1997) statistical software.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Chemical characteristics of taro flour
Proximate compositional profile of the different varieties of taro flour is given in Table 1. As expected the results
Table 1 Proximate compositional profile of the different varieties of taro flour
Parameters Varieties
RIE RIN CE CN KW1 KW2 Moisture (g/100 g) 8.2 ± 0.2a 9.0 ± 0.4bc 9.6 ± 0.1c 8.5 ± 0.4ab 8.5
± 0.1ab 8.8 ± 0.2b Proteins (%) 3.1 ± 0.1ab 3.4 ± 0.1c 4.6 ± 0.1d 4.9 ± 0.2e 2.9 ± 0.1a 3.3 ± 0.1bc Total carbohydrate (%) 94.8
93.9 90.5 91.0 95.5 90.8 Starch yield (%) 86.6 84.36 82.12 79.85 68.8 66.5 Fats (g/100 g) 0.50 ± 0.10 1.17 ± 0.32 0.53 ± 0.15
0.30 ± 0.07 0.33 ± 0.06 0.37 ± 0.06 Red. sugars (g/100 g) 13.8 ± 0.1b 13.5 ± 0.1a 19.5 ± 0.4d 26.7 ± 0.1e 14.6 ± 0.1b 15.5 ± 0.2c
Ash (g/100 g) 1.6 ± 0.35a 1.5 ± 0.4a 4.4 ± 0.3b 3.8 ± 0.9b 1.3 ± 0.6a 5.5 ± 1.1c Minerals Ca (mg/100 g) 25.4 55.9 111 30.7 91
192 Na (mg/100 g) <0.5 4.8 4.6 4.8 <0.5 5.6 Mg (mg/100 g) 61.9 32.9 88.9 90.4 106.7 382 K (mg/100 g) 5.2 27.5 59.7 23.7 3.5
11.4 Mn (ppm) 6.4 13.1 62.4 130.3 127.3 85.6 Fe (ppm) 41.7 2.4 17.6 15.0 13.1 21.8 Zn (ppm) 42.8 0.4 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.8 Cu (ppm)
1.2 0.4 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.8
Means ± SD; Figures in line followed by different superscripts indicate significantly (p < 0.05) different values determined by
Duncan’s Multiple Range Test.
showed that carbohydrates, composed mainly of starch, was the most important chemical component in the flours
while the proteins and fats were very limited. The carbohy- drate levels (calculated by difference) varied from
90.5% to 95.5% while the starch yield varied from 66.5% to 86.6%. The starch yields obtained in this study are in
agreement with that (51–58%) reported by Jane et al. (1992) on Hawaiian taro varieties. In addition, reducing sugars
in taro flour were also found at high levels. The CN variety exhibited the highest level (26.7%) while the RIN and
RIE varieties exhibited the lowest (13.5–13.8%). The differ- ence in the reducing sugars content might reflect the
fragil- ity of the starch within varieties.
The table also showed that beside carbohydrates, ash represented another important group of component in taro
flour with values ranging from 1.3% (variety RIN) to 5.5% (variety KW2). These values are comparable to those
reported for most tubers but are higher compared to that reported for cereal crops (Swinkels, 1985). Among minerals
that composed the ash fraction of the taro flours, and irre- spective of the variety, Ca and Mg were the most
abundant with range values of 25.4–192 mg/100 g flour and 32.9– 382 mg/100 g flour, respectively. The relative
high amount of calcium in flours was expected since taro belongs to the
Table 2 Amylose, phosphorus and amyloglucosidase hydrolysable starch in native taro flour and starch
Variety Sample Amylose
(%)
family araceae recognised to be rich in oxalate calcium crystals responsible for the irritation of uncooked taro. In
this respect, Sira (2000) assigned the high level of ash and Ca in taro flour to oxalate. In the present work, we found
that the presence of Ca in taro flours could be responsible of the high ash content. In fact, a positive significant
corre- lation (r > 0.69; p < 0.05) between the ash content and Ca or Mg content was established. The fact that
magnesium was correlated to ash content might also suggest its role in oxalate crystals formation, but this need to be
investi- gated. Varieties KW1 and KW2 contained the highest lev- els of Ca and Mg, whereas RIN variety contained
the
Hydrolysable
Phosphorus starch (%)
(mg/100 g)
RIE Starch 30.85 ± 0.63 43.14 ± 2.54 0.83 ± 0.08 Flour 26.05 ± 0.27 45.07 ± 1.30 1.97 ± 0.02
RIN Starch 16.65 ± 0.15 51.23 ± 1.27 0.88 ± 0.08 Flour 14.70 ± 1.64 58.87 ± 2.60 1.96 ± 0.03
CE Starch 26.77 ± 2.47 54.83 ± 1.27 0.76 ± 0.18 Flour 18.53 ± 1.92 56.11 ± 3.90 1.76 ± 0.09
CN Starch 28.38 ± 2.86 37.75 ± 2.54 0.82 ± 0.16 Flour 16.07 ± 1.96 46.91 ± 1.30 1.66 ± 0.33
KW1 Starch 25.43 ± 0.42 56.63 ± 1.27 0.77 ± 0.22 Flour 19.40 ± 0.04 50.59 ± 1.30 1.44 ± 0.09
KW2 Starch 29.21 ± 1.50 58.43 ± 1.27 1.43 ± 0.27 Flour 24.10 ± 1.56 61.63 ± 1.30 1.36 ± 0.03
Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305 297
lowest levels. These observations are in agreement with findings by Njintang (2003), which reported the absence of
oxalate crystals in RIE and RIN variety. Beside the major mineral metals cited above, substantial amount of some
oligoelements such as Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn were found in flours. Iron is one of the more abundant oligoelement in
taro flour with level varying from 2.4 ppm (RIE variety) to 41.7 ppm (RIN variety).
3.2. Amylose, phosphorus and amyloglucosidase hydrolysable starch in native taro flour and starch
The ability of the native taro starch to amyloglucosidase hydrolysis is presented in Table 2. The level of
hydrolysable starch varied from 37.75% (variety CN) to 58.43% (variety KW2). A negative correlation (R = À0.32,
p < 0.05) was observed between the reducing sugars content and the
1999). hydrolysis levels. A similar negative linear correlation
Thus, a positive linear correlation (r =
0.65; (R = À0.45, p < 0.05) was observed between the hydrolysis
p <0.05) was observed between the phosphorous
level level and the amylose content of the starch. This result sug-
and the ash content in our flour samples. gested
that high levels amylose starch hydrolysed more slowly than low level amylose starch. This was expected
3.3. Colour and sorption characteristics of taro
starches in the way that amylose is the starch portion which exist in the form of double helix chain, not easily
accessible by
The L*, a* and b* characteristics of the starch
sample are enzymes. In concordance with this study, Skrabanja et al.
grouped in Table 3. The colour characteristics are
all in the (1999) found that pea flour with high amylose content pos-
same order of values: L* (83–94), a* (1.5–5.7)
and b* (3.0– sessed low starch digestibility while pea flour with low amy-
13.8). The result showed that the flour were
white (high lose content exhibited high starch digestibility; and this has
value of L) less red (low a* value) and less
yellow (low b* been reported to be related to the ability of amylose to
value). It has been hypothesised that the variation
in b* undergo retrogradation and form resistant starch. The
value among samples may be attributed to the
amount of amylose content (Table 2) of all the flour samples were rel-
carbohydrate and proteins content due to their
role in atively close to those (18–24%) reported by Jane et al.
development of non enzymatic browning (Jamin
and Flo- (1992) using the gel permeation chromatography and
res, 1998). In the present study, no significant
correlation iodine potentiometric method. Using the iodine colorimet-
was observed between the colour coordinate and
neither ric method, Sira (2000) and Pe ́rez et al. (2005) obtained an
proteins nor reducing sugars levels of the starch
sample. amylose content of 30.3% and 30.6% respectively. In addi-
However, it is worth to mention the positive
correlation tion, the amylose content of taro starch were in the range
between the proteins or carbohydrate and a* (r =
0.44) or values (21–23%) reported for six cultivars of potatoes
b* (r = 0.24), showing that the composition of
the flour tubers (Walter et al., 2000) using the colorimetric and the
 has some effect on its colour. DSC methods.
The ability of taro starch and flour to adsorb
water is Phosphorus, which has been reported to be covalently
presented in Fig. 1. The figure known as
moisture isotherm linked to the starch and affected its properties (Takeda
describes the variations in equilibrium moisture
content et al., 1986), ranged in starches from 0.76 mg/100 g (variety
with water activity (a
w
) at 20 °C. The
equilibrium was CE) to 1.36 mg/100 g (variety KW2). These values were
reached after 3–4 days for the different starch
and flour higher compared to those reported by Pe ́rez et al. (2005)
samples. The figures indicated that variation in
the mois- for Colocasia esculenta (0.01 mg/100 g), Xanthosoma sagit-
ture content of flours and starches depends on the
relative tifolium (0.07 mg/100 g) and Manihot esculenta (0.05 mg/
humidity (RH) of the atmosphere in which they
have been 100 g). For the starch, it was observed a relative negative
stored. If the RH decreases, the starches reject
moisture; if linear correlation (r = À0.43; p < 0.05) between the hydro-
the RH increases, they absorb humidity
(Swinkels, 1985). lysable level and the phosphorus content. This indicated
The shape of the curves is sigmoid, showing one
inflection that native starch with high level of phosphorus exhibited
point, which has been reported to characterise
materials low digestibility. A possible explanation is that lower phos-
with high sugars content (Maskan and Go ̈gu ̈s,
1997). Such phorus content in starch granules generally results in
material samples present typical curve with three
different higher resistant starch (Liu et al., 2007). The levels of phos-
regions (Chungcharoen and Lund, 1987): region
1, corre- phorous in tuber starches is typically less than 500 mg/
sponding to a
w 100 g and is usually referred to
ash (Thomas and Atwell,
< 0.2, which relates to adsorption of mono- molecular film of water, region B for aw range of
0.22–0.7
Table 3 Colour and adsorption characteristics of taro flours and starches
Variety Sample Oswin constant B (10À1) Oswin constant A (10À2 g gÀ1) Colour characteristics
L* a* b*
RIE Starch 6.38 ± 0.68 3.99 ± 0.51 94.9 ± 0.3 1.5 ± 0.1 3.0 ± 0.25 Flour 8.49 ± 1.38 3.16 ± 0.86 87.7 ± 6.0 1.45 ± 0.14 6.98 ±
0.31
RIN Starch 7.44 ± 1.00 3.18 ± 0.61 93.9± 0.5 2.1 ± 0.1 4.7 ± 0.34 Flour 6.20 ± 0.80 5.19 ± 0.76 93.63 ± 0.41 2.20 ± 0.07 8.86 ±
0.11
CE Starch 11.05 ± 1.78 1.93 ± 0.71 88.7 ± 0.3 5.1 ± 0.1 9.1 ± 0.1d Flour 6.55 ± 1.63 5.44 ± 1.60 92.24 ± 0.59 1.92 ± 0.02 9.36 ±
0.13
CN Starch 10.63 ± 1.16 2.20 ± 0.52 90. 8 ± 0.7 3.5 ± 0.2 7.2 ± 0.5c Flour 9.19 ± 0.89 3.10 ± 0.55 93.36 ± 0.47 1.92 ± 0.04 9.31 ±
0.16
KW1 Starch 9.76 ± 0.90 2.69 ± 0.49 93.5 ± 0.5 2.5 ± 0.2 5.2 ± 0.3b Flour 10.21 ± 0.85 2.41 ± 0.41 88.30 ± 0.42 4.20 ± 0.10
11.85 ± 0.16
KW2 Starch 5.75 ± 0.62 3.18 ± 0.36 83.2 ± 0.5 5.7 ± 0.2 13.8 ± 0.2e Flour 6.30 ± 0.80 5.09 ± 0.75 84.40 ± 40 5.67 ± 0.23 13.91
± 0.30
298 Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305
In 0.30
general, the equilibrium moisture content
increases ) g / g ( t n e t n
rapidly at low water activity a
w
(0–0.13), and then rises slowly between 0.15 and 0.7, followed by a steep rise
above 0.7. The variation shown to follow the of Oswin equilibrium model moisture (r2 > 0.95; with p < a
w
0.01). was
The constants A from the model shown in Table 3 varied between varieties reflecting the difference in their adsorp-
tion. In general, the parameter A was generally higher for the flours than for the starch, suggesting an important con-
tribution of non starch compounds on the adsorption of the flour. Reverse observations were made on the constant B
and in this respect a negative correlation (r2 = 0.69; p < 0.01) was shown to exist between A and B. Values of A
ranged from 0.019 (variety CE) to 0.039 (variety RIE) for starches and from 0.024 (variety KW1) to 0.054 (variety
CE) for flours. For the B values, ranges were 0.57–1.10 for starches and 0.62–01.02 for flours. The A and B values
obtained in this study were in the range but systematically higher (for A) and lower (for B) than that reported for
corn (A = 0.0787, B =0.32) (Al-Muhtaseb et al., 2004) and potatoes starches (A = 0.069, B = 0.39) (Peng et al.,
2007).
3.4. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
The thermal transition of the six taro starches were detected by DSC. All the starch samples exhibited a ther-
mogram with a single endothermic transition typical of the gelatinisation process (Biliaderis and Seneviratne, 1992;
Iturriaga et al., 2004). The DSC results are presented in Table 4. No significant difference was observed on the peak
gelatinisation temperature and the onset gelatinisa- tion temperature of the starches and the flours. This was not the
case in literature where Jane et al. (1992) observed in their studies that the gelatinisation temperatures of the flours
were higher than those of the starches. However, a significant difference (p <0.001) was observed on the enthalpy
(DH
G
) with starches generally exhibiting
higher 0.25
RIN CN RIE
ocerut
0.20
KW2 KW1 CE
siom
0.15
muirbili
0.10
uqE
0.05
0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Water activity
0.25
)g/g(tnetnocerutsi
0.20
Water activity 0.15
RIN CN RIE KW2
om
0.10
KW1 CE
muirbiliuqE
0.05
0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Fig. 1. Sorption isotherm of taro flours (a) and starches (b).
corresponding to adsorption of additional layers over this monolayer, and region C for a
w
range = 0.7–0.99 corre- sponding to condensation of water in the pores of the
material followed by dissolution of soluble material (Bena- do and Rizvi, 1985).
Table 4 Gelatinization profile (°C) taro flours and starches
Variety Samples DSC parameters
T
0
T
p
T
c
DH (J/g)
RIN Flour 60.93 ± 2.36 64.77 ± 2.77 66.42 ± 1.27 8.43 ± 0.21 Starch 63.41 ± 2.38 67.24 ± 3.21 70.27 ± 3.61 11.04 ± 0.86
RIE Flour 55.20 ± 1.2 61.27 ± 0.71 64.96 ± 0.90 14.95 ± 0.91 Starch 54.93 ± 2.64 56.48 ± 1.76 60.78 ± 2.51 16.93 ± 1.34
CE Flour 57.47 ± 0.97 62.78 ± 2.89 67.05 ± 2.67 11.41 ± 0.89 Starch 57.85 ± 3.14 74.54 ± 2.20 68.81 ± 3.5 15.37 ± 0.82
CN Flour 56.80 ± 1.57 59.42 ± 0.61 61.78 ± 0.87 9.22 ± 0.87 Starch 62.91 ± 2.82 64.29 ± 3.41 66.4 ± 2.25 15.19 ± 2.21
KW1 Flour 65.49 ± 1.53 69.75 ± 2.34 73.33 ± 3.13 11.13 ± 0.01 Starch 64.37 ± 2.35 67.64 ± 1.67 69.53 ± 2.6 14.59 ± 0.24
KW2 Flour 56.14 ± 1.23 58.99 ± 1.11 61.24 ± 3.12 13.36 ± 0.66 Starch 48.08 ± 2.46 54.40 ± 3.16 57.91 ± 2.50 16.75 ± 0.84
T
0
, onset gelatinisation temperature; T
p
, peak gelatinisation temperature; T
c
, end temperature of gelatinisation.
Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305 299
values (mean 14.99J/g) and flours having lower values (mean 11.42 J/g). These results are in agreement with find-
ings by Ahmed et al. (2008) who reported a higher heat of gelatinisation (DH
G
) of 16.2 J/g for rice starch and a lower heat of gelatinisation to whole rice flour (4.81 J/g). This
clearly show that the gelatinisation profile of flours may be influenced not only by the starch composition (amylose
to amylopectin ratio), but also by others such as the gran- ular architecture (crystalline to amorphous ratio), the
molecular structure of amylopectin (extent of branching, unit chain length) (Gunaratne and Hoover, 2002). Further-
more, high amylose starches with longer average chain have been reported to exhibit higher transition tempera- tures
(Jane et al., 1992).
In all cases, a significant effect (p < 0.05) of variety was observed on the temperatures and the enthalpy of
gelatin- isation. The peak temperature of gelatinisation varied between 55.56 and 68.67 °C with CN, KW2 and RIE
exhibiting lower values and RIN, KW1 and CE exhibiting higher values. DH
G
values varied from 8.43 J/g (variety RIN) to 14.95J/g (variety RIE) for flours and from
11.04J/g (variety RIE) to 16.93J/g (variety RIE) for starches. The gelatinisation profiles of starches shown in Table
4 are quite similar to those reported by Jane et al.
300 Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305
Fig. 2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of starch granules isolated from taro flours varieties KW1 (a), RIE (b), RIN (c), CN
(d), CE (e).
(1992) for taro flour and starch. However, the initial, mid- dle and end gelatinisation temperatures were lower than
those reported by Sira (2000) either for the flours or for the starches. In addition, Sira (2000) reported a significant
correlation between T
p
and amylose content of taro starch. Similar trend was observed in our study even though the
correlation was not significant (r = 0.37).
3.5. Microstructure and particle size of taro starch
Scanning electron micrograph showed that taro starch granules had polygonal and irregular shapes of diameter
lower than 5 lm (Fig. 2). The particle size distribution obtained from the master sizer (Fig. 3) exhibited a mono-
modal distribution with a mean diameter of 3–20 lm, higher than that reported by other authors on taro starch which
were 1–5 lm (Jane et al., 1992; Sugimoto et al., 1986). The results obtained suggested that the starch gran- ules are
associated as cluster or compounds since extrac- tion has not been done in alkaline solution which is known to
dissociate them. Microscopic observations of the starch samples confirmed this association. Meaningful
observations of the particle size give diameters of each of the starch samples varying from 1 to 5 lm, in agreement
with the granule size of taro starch reported in the litera- ture. No significant differences were observed on the parti-
cle size of the different varieties although compounds granules were more pronounced in the CN and KW1 sam-
ples. The size distribution association as individual (simple) or clusters (compound) and composition (lipid,
moisture, protein and minerals content) reflect the different origins of starches (Tester and Karkalas, 2002).
3.6. Fourier transformed infrared
To get information on the possible difference in starch granules structures between taro starch samples, their
FT-IR were recorded. The spectra obtained for the six sam- ples were similar based on the form, but differed in the
intensity of the major peaks as shown in Fig. 4. The spectra showed high absorption at the wave numbers 574,
1020– 1026, 1056, 1151, 1365, 1631, 2922 and 3400 cmÀ1 confirm- ing the carbohydrate nature of the samples.
According to Van Soest et al. (1995), the bands at 1047 and 1022 cmÀ1 describe the crystalline and amorphous
properties of starch, respectively, and their ratios indicate the degree of starch order (Sevenou et al., 2002; Van Soest
et al., 1995). In this study, such bands really appeared but the one at 1047 cmÀ1 was so broad that we used the one
at
8
6
)%(egatnecreP
4
2
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Particle size (μm)
10
8
)%(egatnecreP
6
Particle size (μm) 4
2
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of the taro flours (a) and starches (b).
Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305 301
3.0
KW1 2.5
KW2 CE CN e c n a b r
2.0
1.5
NIE RIN
osbA
1.0
0.5
0.0
4000
3000 2000 1000 0 Wavenumber (cm-1)
4
3
CE KW2 RIE e c n a b r o s b A
4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2 1
RIN KW1 CN
0
-1
Wavenumber (cm-1)
Fig. 4. Infra red spectroscopy of the different taro flours (a) and starches (b).
1056 cmÀ1. In processing the FT-IR data, we extracted the intensity of the bands and the resulting values, grouped
in Table 5 showed that the crystallinity and amorphous indexes of the starch ranged, respectively, from 1.17 (KW2)
to 2.63 (RIN) and 1.27 to 3.51. The values of the ratio which varied from 0.75 (RIE) to 0.93 (KW2 variety) seem to
suggest in general that taro starch is more amor- phous than crystalline at the granule surface. It is worth mentioning
that RIE variety is more crystalline than the CE, KW1 and KW2 varieties. The values of the ratio obtained in the
present work are not quite different from
Table 5 Crystallinity (I
1022
) of taro flour and starch samples
FT-IR characteristics
), amorphousness (I
1056
) and order index (I
1056
/I
1022
Sample Varieties
RIE CE CN RIN KW1 KW2
Crystalline index Flour 2.7 1.9 1.8 2.1 1.7 2.0 Starch 3.5 1.4 1.7 2.0 1.5 1.3
Amorphous index Flour 2.3 1.6 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.7 Starch 2.6 1.3 1.3 1.7 1.5 1.2
Starch granule order Flour 0.82 0.84 0.87 0.84 0.91 0.87 Starch 0.75 0.89 0.81 0.86 0.95 0.93
0.8 reported by Olkku and Rha (1978) and Van Soest et al. (1995) for cowpea and potatoes starches, respectively.
Comparatively, the values calculated for the starch samples were not significantly different from their corresponding
flours justifying that starch is the most important compo- nent of taro flour.
3.7. Water absorption capacity (WAC) and water solubility index (WSI)
The swelling capacities of the starches are presented in Fig. 5. In general, increase in temperature led to
significant increase in WAC up to a maximum situated at temperature 60–70 °C from which they decreased. Above
50 °C little changes on WAC occurred, while beyond water absorption was most conspicuous with the RIE, KW2
and CN being highly prone to swelling. The slow swelling pattern of the starches and flours at relatively low
temperatures is con- firmed by the report of Agunbiade and Longe (1999). The swelling behaviour of the starches
may be affected by the structural arrangements of their amylose and amylo- pectin (Schoch and Mayfield, 1956).
Thus it is most prob- able that the granular arrangements of RIE, KW2 and CN are less compact and, therefore, may
have higher intermo-
36
34
32 x e d n i y t i l i
)ruol
30
b
fg
28
ulos
001/(
26
retaW
g
24
22
RIE RIN
20
CE CN
18
KW1 KW2
16
40
RIE RIN 35 x e d n i y t i
)hcra
30
CE CN
Soaking temperature (°C) KW1 KW2
libulosretaW
tsg001/g(
25
20
15
Fig. 5. Water solubility index of the different varieties of taro flour (a) and paste (b).
0 20 40 608 80 100
302 Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305
lecular areas than the other three varieties. When gelatini- sation temperature was reached, the loose of associative
hydrogen in the starch granules quickly resulted by hydra- tion, resulting in swelling of the granules (Biliaderis and
Seneviratne, 1992). From the results shown in Fig. 1 it can be seen that RIE, KW2 and CN starches and flours held
slightly more water than RIN, KW1 and CE varieties (10.06 g H
2
O gÀ1) and that WAC of taro flours were sys- tematically higher than that of their starch counterpart.
These results suggested that the other non-starch compo- nents of the flours such as mucilage contributed highly to
the absorption of the flour. The variation in WAC of the starches could be due to the difference in the degree of
engagement of hydroxyl groups to form hydrogen and covalent bonds between starch chains (Hoover and Sosul- ski,
1986). Whatever the case the similar trend observed for the water absorption capacity for the flours and starch,
confirmed by significant correlation observed (r = 0.87; p < 0.001) suggested that starch play a major role in the
binding capacity of starch.
The increase in water absorption capacity has always been associated with the increase in the amylose leaching
and solubility, and lost of starch crystalline structure (Gunaratne and Hoover, 2002). This was the case in the
0 20 40 60 80 100 Soaking temperature (°C)
500
450
400
350
2
300
RIE RIN CE CN 250
KW1 KW2
200
0 20 40 60 80 100
Soaking temperature (°C)
300
2
RIE RIN CE CN KW1 KW2
Soaking temperature (°C)
Fig. 6. Water absorption capacity of different varieties of taro flour and starch.
250
200
150
100
50
0 20 40 60 80 100
present work where a significant correlation was observed between the water absorption and the water solubility,
either for the flour samples (r = 0.37, p < 0.01) or for the starch samples (r = 0.56, p <0.001). The variations in WSI
of flour and starches are presented in Fig. 6. CE, CN, KW1 and KW2 flours and starches exhibited very low
solubility at 20 °C and formed only a temporary sus- pension when stirred in water. According to Eliasson and
Gudmundsson (1996), the low solubility of starches at low temperatures could be attributed to the semi-crystalline
structure of the starch granules and the hydrogen bonds formed between hydroxyl groups in the starch molecules. As
the temperature increased, the solubility increased due to the disruption of starch granules and exposure of hydro-
philic groups. As expected the maximum solubility (35%) reached by the different samples at higher temperature
reflects the amylose contents of the samples. Indeed amy- lose and consequently starch appear as the major constitu-
ents of the flours that solubilise during heating. In this respect, a significant correlation was observed between the
solubility index of the flours and starches (r = 0.76, p < 0.001).
3.8. Flow properties
The flow properties of taro starches and flours disper- sions were studied in the shear stress range 100–500 Pa
and the results are presented in Table 6. All the tested flour and starch systems behaved to a very good
approximation (r2 = 0.96–1.00) as power law liquid over this range of shear rates. The good fit of power law model
confirmed the linear- ity of the curves for these starches. The starch and flour paste showed pseudoplastic behaviour
(shear thinning) and the flow behaviour index (n) was observed to be least for RIN flour (0.16) and KW1 starch
(0.13) and highest for CE flour (0.86) and RIE starch (0.38). However, the con- sistency indices (K) of CE flour
(1.0Pasn), and starch (0.06 Pa sn) were shown to be least while the RIE flour (19.6 Pa sn) and KW2 starch (52.3 Pa
sn) were highest.
Viscosity development of a paste has been mainly related to the water binding capacities of the dry ingredients
(Dogan et al., 2005). According to these authors, flour which binds the maximum amount of water exhibits a high
viscosity. In this respect, a significant correlation was found between the consistency index K and the water
absorption capacity of the flour (r = 0.90, p = 0.01). In addition, high
Aboubakar et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 86 (2008) 294–305 303
Table 6 Flow behaviour, K, and consistency index, n, of different varieties of taro flours and starches
Parameters Sample Varieties
RIE RIN CE CN KW1 KW2
K (Pa sn) Flour 19.6 ± 0.7 14.8 ± 0.4 1.0 ± 0.00 1.6 ± 0.05 9.9 ± 0.3 9.9 ± 0.3 Starch 10.6 ± 0.3 4.20 ± 0.13 0.06 ± 0.01 8.78 ± 0.2
10.44 ± 3.97 52.3 ± 0.5
n Flour 0.23 ± 0.01 0.16 ± 0.00 0.86 ± 0.05 0.61 ± 0.01 0.39 ± 0.01 0.39 ± 0.01 Starch 0.38 ± 0.01 0.42 ± 0.01 0.35 ± 0.01 0.17 ±
0.01 0.13 ± 0.05 0.30 ± 0.01

value of consistency index K has been associated to flour possessing high solubility (r = 0.78, p < 0.05) in concor-
dance with study by Dogan et al. (2005) reported on soy flour and rice. According to these authors, in a solution
con- taining flour with less water absorption capacity, there is more free water available to facilitate the movement
of par- ticles and as such, low viscosity value is obtained.
4. Conclusion
The results obtained showed some differences on the structure and properties of the varieties of taro flours and
starches. The study revealed that taro flours are mainly made of carbohydrates and particularly starch. The gran- ule
size of the starch (1–5 lm) varied significantly within each variety but not significantly between them. While no
significant difference exist on the gelatinisation tempera- tures of the flours and starches, the initial and the peak
temperatures of gelatinisation of the taro starches vary sig- nificantly among varieties with general averages of 55
and 65 °C, respectively. The gelatinisation enthalpies are sys- tematically higher for starches that for flours with RIE
exhibiting the highest value (14.9 for flour and 16.9 for flour) and RIN the lowest (8.43 for flour and 11.04 for
starch). The amorphous index, the water absorption capac- ity, and the water solubility index of the taro starch
equally vary significantly with varieties. Taro flours possessing higher water absorption capacity and higher water
solubil- ity index give gels with higher consistency index.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank with greatness the financial support from the Cooperation Francßaise which helps the first
author to carry out the study in the Laboratoire de Sciences et Gen- ie Alimentaire de Nancy, INPL, France. Part of
this study was also financed by the International Foundation for Sci- ence (IFS, Stockholm, Sweden) and the
Committee on the Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the Organisa- tion of Islamic Conference
(COMSTECH, Islamabad, Paki- stan) through a grant to Yanou Nicolas Njintang.
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