Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the effect of suc
rose on wheat starch glass transition, gelatinization, and retrogradation.
As the ratio of sucrose to starch increased from 0.25:1 to 1:1, the glass t
ransition temperature (T-g, T-g') and ice melting enthalpy (DeltaH(ice)) of
wheat starch-sucrose mixtures (with total moistures of 40-60%) were decrea
sed to a range of -7 to -20 degreesC and increased to a range of 29.4 to 41
3.4 J/g of starch, respectively, in comparison with wheat starch with no su
crose. The T-g' of the wheat starch-sucrose mixtures was sensitive to the a
mount of added sucrose, and detection was possible only under conditions of
excess total moisture of >40%. The peak temperature (T-m) and enthalpy val
ue (DeltaH(G)) for gelatinization of starch-sucrose systems within the tota
l moisture range of 40-60% were increased with increasing sucrose and were
greater at lower total moisture levels. The T-g' of the starch-sucrose syst
em increased during storage. In particular, the significant shift in T-g' r
anged between 15 and 18 degreesC for a 1:1 starch-sucrose system (total moi
sture 50%) after one week of storage at various temperatures (4, 32, and 40
degreesC). At 40% total moisture, samples with sucrose stored at 4, 32, an
d 40 degreesC for four weeks had higher retrogradation enthalpy (DeltaH) va
lues than a sample with no sucrose. At 50 and 60% total moisture, there wer
e small increases in DeltaH values at storage temperature of 4 degreesC, wh
ereas recrystallization of samples with sucrose stored at 32 and 40 degrees
C decreased. The peak temperature (T-p), peak width (deltaT), and enthalpy
(DeltaH) for the retrogradation endotherm of wheat starch-sucrose systems (
1:0.25, 1:0.5, and 1:1) at the same total moisture and storage temperature
showed notable differences with the ratio of added sucrose. In addition, Tp
increased at the higher storage temperature, while deltaT increased at the
lower storage temperature. This suggests that the recrystallization of the
wheat starch-sucrose system at various storage temperatures can be interpr
eted in terms of deltaT and T-p.