Plastcizing starch by adding magnesium chloride or sodium chloride

Journal article, 2016

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim It is known that starch can form complexes with salts from transition and non-transition groups, but the effect of these salts on the properties of gelatinized starch systems and their potential as alternative plasticizers has been scantily reported. In this work, the effect of adding magnesium chloride or sodium chloride to gelatinized oxidized potato starch system have been investigated. Solution cast films were characterized by their equilibrium moisture content, X-ray diffraction spectra, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and tensile mechanical properties. The addition of a salt reduced the crystallinity and glass transition temperature of starch. The equilibrium moisture content increased when the Mg salt was added, but the salt recrystallization reduced the equilibrium moisture content at higher contents of NaCl. The addition of magnesium chloride resulted in lowered tensile strength and increased the elongation at break, whereas sodium chloride reduced both the tensile strength and the elongation at break.