In the 1930s, acid hydrolyzed starch, were used to allow more starch and higher gel strengths in jelly-gum candies. The quality attainable with food starch thickeners improved dramatically in the 1940s with the introduction of cross-linked starches and waxy maize.
Cross-linking is the addition of bonds between starch polymers which allow the starch granule to swell but not disintegrate during processing of foods. Cross-linking began with the observation that oxidizing tapioca.
Such starches, first made by accident, provided a greater shelf life in fruit pies than was possible with the wheat flour or cornstarch they had back then. The thickeners produced fillings which became opaque, set to a gel and separated several hours after baking.
During the 1940s was the commercialization of waxy maize starch. Waxy maize starch, which contains nearly 100% amylopectin, has a high stability due to the near absence of the amylose molecule. Demand for waxy maize increased as a result of World War II. The war threatened the supply of tapioca starch from the Far East, and it was found that waxy maize starch would successfully substitute for tapioca in the food processing industry.
In 1952, a mutant gene was discovered which allowed increased amylose levels without marked reductions in starch content, as was characteristic of previous high amylose genes. Commercial high amylose starch was produced from specially adapted hybrids around 1958. As expected, high amylose starches have unique properties for gelling and film forming and have been used to provide quick gels in candies, greater crispness and reduced oil pick up in fried foods.
The 1970s witnessed three major developments: the advent of hydroxy-propylated starches. The use of hydroxy-propylation was commercialized in the early 1970s and provided higher stability and richer texture than previously possible. This improved performance and increased the quality of attainable products in puddings and frozen sauces.
Starch is manufactured by green plants during the process of photosynthesis. Some plants include potatoes, rice, wheat, and other cereal grains. Also in amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, millet, oats, rice, rye, and sorghum. Starch forms on the parts of the cell walls in plants, and constitutes part of rigid plan fibers. Starch is the principle storage form in most plants. The granules of starch have size, shape and marking characteristics of the species of the plant in which the starch is made out of. Starch is very abundant. Usually in seeds of cereal plants, bulbs, and tubers.
