2^nd International Congress on
Advances in Food Chemistry and Technology

Biography:

Wanphen Weil earned a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from Rajamangala University of Technology, followed by a master's degree in biotechnology from Kasetsart University in 2002. For three years after this, she conducted research at the Thailand Cassava and Starch Research Laboratory. After 6 years of experience as an industrial QA manager, she decided to return to the research world, again with the Thailand Cassava and Starch Research Laboratory.  During this time, she also started her own business, which manufactured newborn products from 100% cotton. In 2015, she started the PhD program at Kasetsart University, working with Dr. Klanarong Sriroth.  She currently is researching as a visiting scholar in the laboratory of Dr. Yong-Cheng Shi in the Department of Grain Science and Industry at Kansas State University. Her current research projects involve the properties of starch from the cassava plant as well as using buckwheat for gluten-free noodles.

Abstract:

Tapioca (Manihot escualenta Crantz), also referred to as cassava, mandioca, manioc, or yuca, is a woody shrub originating from South America, which is mainly cultivated for its tuberous, carbohydrate-rich roots.  Normal tapioca is high in rapidly digestible starch, thus foods prepared with normal tapioca have a high glycemic index, which is implicated in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.  Also, normal tapioca contributes little to dietary fiber intake, which is vital to human health.  Soluble dietary fiber is especially important in the human diet because of its contributions to bacterial health in the large intestines.  In 2007, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), identified a new variety of tapioca, “waxy” tapioca. The waxy tapioca starch variety differs from normal tapioca in its molecular structure, in that it is amylose-free.  Previous studies have used pyrodextrinization to modify starch and increase soluble dietary fiber content.  In this study, systematic experiments were completed to measure various physico-chemical properties of the new waxy tapioca starch as well as normal tapioca starch, in unmodified form as well as at various levels of pyrodextrinization.  Unmodified waxy tapioca starch was found to pyrodextrinize at lower levels of time and temperature than normal tapioca starch. Unmodified tapioca starch and its pyrodextrins were found to have higher transmittance and stability after boiling and cooling, to show less retrogradation, to have more of a canary color, and to attain higher dietary fiber content than normal tapioca starch and its pyrodextrins.  

Waxy tapioca starch had higher levels of low molecular weight soluble fiber than normal (41.7% v. 35.4%) at the highest level of pyrodextrinization (170oC, 4h). Future research should focus on using waxy tapioca starch and its pyrodextrins as a food ingredient with excellent clarity and stability, low glycemic index and a high fraction of soluble dietary fiber..