Tropical Sources of Starches
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Though there is a wide range of starch available with different properties, the demand for tailor made starches for specific applications is always rising. In spite of the fact that chemical methods are available for modification of starches is available, these are facing opposition from the health-conscious consumer in view of the hazards of using chemicals especially in food uses. So attempts are being made to modify starch at molecular level by using modern biotechnological tools. In addition to conventional methods by hybridisation of varieties, use of modern biotechnological tools can bring about starch modifications. Production of high amylose or high amylopectin starch by gene modification has been achieved in many crops, but very little progress has been made in the case of tropical tuber crops. Though commercial production of high-amylose or high amylopectin cassava varieties have not started, Visser and his group have made considerable progress in developing high amylose and high amylopectin cassava starch. It is hoped that this will be extended to other crops and soon they will also be available for exploitation.
It is also feasible to bring about other types of modification such as high phytoglycogen starches, changing the granule sizes, altering chain lengths and branching patterns and introduction of b-linkages in starch. These modifications are possible with the emerging new knowledge on the genes responsible for deciding these factors and new techniques available for gene modification. By applying these techniques it may be possible to produce starch with all desirable characteristics in the near future.
