Starch has always been a good helper in our kitchen. We can't do without starch in cooking and cake making. We often use various kinds of starch in our daily life, such as rice, wheat, oats, corn and other cereal starch; Potato starch such as sweet potato, potato and cassava; There are also bean starches such as broad beans, mung beans, peas and red beans.
But there is a kind of starch, which comes from natural starch and is different from natural starch in function. It is called denatured starch, which is also starch but rarely used in daily cooking. As a kind of food additive, we can often see it in processed food. So what is denatured starch, what is its use, and what is the difference from ordinary starch?
What is denatured starch?
First of all, let's review what are common starches? Starch is a high molecular carbohydrate, which is polymerized from glucose molecules, including amylose and amylopectin. Common starch is mainly used in daily cooking. Some are suitable for frying, some are suitable for salted meat to achieve a smooth taste, and some are suitable for frying and thickening. The three most common are potato starch, corn starch and sweet potato starch.
Potato starch: characterized by fine texture, good viscosity and white color. This is the most common and stable thickening starch in families.
Corn starch. White powder with yellowish color, with light fragrance and strong hygroscopicity. Suitable for sizing. After being fried at high temperature, corn starch will give out a unique flavor, and the perfect combination with meat will make the fried food more delicious. However, if you want to be crisp, you still need to add flour to mix it.
Sweet potato starch. The color is dark gray, and the viscosity is the strongest of the three kinds of starch, which is granular and has a light fragrance. Sweet potato starch tastes smooth and flexible. Most of the raw materials of vermicelli and vermicelli are sweet potato starch.
Modified starch is based on natural starch. In order to improve the performance of starch and expand its scope of application, it uses physical, chemical or enzymatic methods to change the natural properties of starch, increase some functions of starch or introduce new properties to make it more suitable for certain application requirements. This kind of product with secondary processing and changed properties is collectively called modified starch.
Many fields of food industry have begun to apply modified starch as an ingredient to food, which can increase the taste of food, and also change the structure of food to make its quality better. In some developed countries, denatured starch is added to almost all cereal fast food and meat products. The purpose of adding modified starch is not to improve the nutritional value of food, but to improve the functional properties of processed food.