Food Chemistry
Starch gelatinisation
The irreversible swelling of starch granules when heated in water above a characteristic temperature, in which the crystalline structure is lost, amylose leaches out and viscosity rises sharply.
Why raw rice and raw atta dough have to be cooked with water and heat before becoming soft rice or roti — the starch granules swell and burst.
Related terms
Retrogradation
Food ChemistryThe re-association of gelatinised starch chains, mainly amylose, into an ordered crystalline structure during cooling and storage, expelling water (syneresis).
Amylose
Food ChemistryThe essentially linear fraction of starch, made of α-1,4-linked glucose units. Typically 20–30% of common starches.
Amylopectin
Food ChemistryThe highly branched fraction of starch, with α-1,4 chains joined by α-1,6 branch points roughly every 20–25 units.
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