The Study of Physico-Chemical Properties of Dioscorea alata’s Starch From Jambi Province

Abstract

Botanical origin of a plant is known to affect the physical characteristic of its tuber.  This research was conducted to investigate the physical characteristic of starch obtained from Dioscorea sp tubers grown in Jambi Province. There were two cultivars used in this experiment: yellow and purple tuber. The tubers were extracted using three methods: control, soaking and steam blanching.  Soaking was performed by soaking the small cut tubers in hot water at 60^oC for 15 minutes while steam blanching was performed by steaming them at 100^oC for 5 minutes. The starches were examined for their colour parameter, swelling power (SP) and solubility.  SP and solubility of starch were observed at several temperatures from 65 to 95^oC.  Type of cultivar and the extraction method significantly affect L*, a* and b* value of the starch.  SP at 65^oC, 70^oC and 75^oC were found to be affected by both the type of cultivar (p<0.01)) and the extraction method (p<0.01). Steam blanching was found to increase SP of purple cultivars while soaking was found to increase SP of yellow cultivar.  On the other hand, the solubility of starch was not affected by either the type of cultivar or the extraction method