Physicochemical and Functional Characterization of Mucuna pruries Depigmented Starch for Potential Industrial Applications

Starch is a very important biopolymer in the food industry. The velvet bean (M. pruriens) is an excellent potential starch source containing approximately 520 g starch per kg. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical and functional properties of velvet bean depigmented starch. The starch granules appear oval and spherical shaped. The colour registered L*, a*, b* values of 44.9, 0.324 and 0.341 respectively. The chemical composition registered values of moisture, ash, fat, protein, fibre and NFE of 110.5, 5.8, 5.7, 0.0, 34 and 954.5 g/kg respectively, as well as amylose levels of 215.3 g/kg. Gelatinization onset (To), peak (Tp) and final (Tf) temperatures were of 74.23°C, 80.57°C and 86.39°C. The solubility (3.1% - 16.2%), swelling power (SP) (2.86% - 16.17%) and water absorption capacity (WAC) (2.67 - 15.95 g water/g starch) were directly correlated to temperature (60°C - 90°C). The enthalpy values (4.10 - 13.47 j/g) were directly correlated to the time (1 - 21 days). The retrogradation increased as time increased. The viscosity of M. pruriens depigmented starch decreased slightly during the heating stages and then increased during cooling and the refrigeration and freezing stability registered syneresis ranges from 17.65 to 23.18 mL/50mL and from 16.4 to 22.6 mL/50mL respectively, indicating that the depigmented starch was unstable in heating-cooling processes.