Tropical Tuber Crops

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What were the Principal milestones reached during the progress of the research work ?

1. Based on the previous experience gained at IIT Kanpur and discussions with renowned Scientists in India working on starch and related products, I was able to establish laboratory facilities for detailed studies on starch. The facilities have been made use of by other scientists of the institute and also from other institutes,. Personnel from many starch based industries also seek our help in analyzing their products
2. Studies on the cooking quality of cassava tubers reveled that cooking quality could be correlated to some physical changes occurring in the tubers during cooking like changes in weight, volume and hardness. Such correlations have not been reported earlier
3. A comparison of the biochemical constituents in tubers having differing cooking quality revealed that a number of factors contribute to quality. Besides starch content, the distribution of starch in the tubers, presence and quantity of other components along with starch also influence the cooking quality
4. Non-starchy components affect starch swelling, viscosity and solubility and thus have a definite role in deciding quality
5. A rapid titrimetric method was standardized for determination of starch and sugar in the tuber crops and has gained wide acceptability
6. A convenient method for the extraction of starch from mucilaginous crops like Colocasia and Amorphophallus was developed. The use of 0.03M ammonia not only led to higher recovery of starch, but also improved qualities like colour, viscosity etc. In fact the procedure also was helpful in the extraction of mucilage’s from the crops
7. The physico-chemical and functional properties of different starches were studied in detail and results showed a wide variability in the different starches unlike cereal starches which show much less variability. There was considerable variation in granule size, swelling power, viscosity, theological properties, gel strength etc. So the tuber starches can act as a source of specialty starches, which can be used in lieu of the chemically modified starches. Such an exhaustive study on tropical tuber starches has not been carried out earlier and has received acclaim from many sources
8. Solubility studies of starch in non-aqueous solvents have shown that some of these solvents can be used for Phase Transfer Catalytic reactions for production of starch derivatives
9. The method developed for determination of amylose contents in starches using MDSC will be very useful since it gives accurate results at high sensitivity and requires only very small quantities of starch
10. Studies on effect of surfactants and lipids on starch have shown that there is no inhibition for the tuber starches to complex with these reagents. The complexation can be useful in improving the textural properties of foods. The process also can be useful in developing resistant starches, which have good potential as food for the diabetics and the obese
11. The results with DSC studies on effect of lipids having different chain lengths on starch properties indicated that longer the chain length , the stronger is the complexation. This result will be useful in identifying the most appropriate lipid or surfactant which can be used for modification of starch properties
12. Based on the studies on basic properties, it was also possible to identify the undesirable properties and modify them suitably. Various physical , chemical and biotechnological methods, which improved the properties while maintaining the desirable ones were developed. Physical methods of modifications included steam pressure treatments, incorporation of surfactants, lipids etc., which are safe for human consumption
13. Chemically modified starches developed include oxidized starch, starch esters and ethers and cross linked starches. Their properties were examined and the results revealed that the modified starches can have various applications. By varying the quantity of reagents, the properties could also be modified to desired levels
14. The modified starches were displayed at various exhibitions and their application and properties conveyed to industrialists and entrepreneurs and visitors to the institute and hence the availability of the technology was given enough publicity
15. Some of the technologies, which have evinced lot of interest, are production of starch phosphate in view of its high solubility and viscosity, hypochlorite oxidized starch (low viscosity and film forming capacity), carboxymethyl starch (solubility and viscosity enhancing power) and cold-water miscible starch
16. An adhesive suitable for biding ceramic with other surfaces was developed using a combination of starch-PVA and has excellent quality and scope as a ecofriendly adhesive. Scaling up is in progress
17. Cold water miscible starch developed in the lab can be useful for textile and laundry applications
18. Many industries have expressed their interest in the products and M/s Vensa Bioteck, Samalkot, Andhra Pradesh purchased the technology for cold water miscible starch developed in our laboratory. The transfer of technology earned Rs 15,000 for the Institute
19. It was possible to produce instant food mix using cassava flour, biscuits from Dioscorea rotundata starch, jelly like product from Canna starch and flakes from cassava starch. These products have received general acceptance at many exhibitions and agricultural fairs
20. We have provided advise to many small scale units for adhesive production and oxidized starch
21. Based on the extensive work being done on starches CTCRI was selected for hosting the XVI Carbohydrate Conference during 2001and I was the Organising secretary for the Conference
22. The exhaustive work on starch chemistry and technology has also been recognized in terms of awards (Hari Om Trust Award, 1993-4, Three Team research Awards, , invitation to National and International meetings, invitation to act as referee in International journals, project evaluation and thesis valuation