Abstract

Importance of starches for diversified industries can never be neglected. This biopolymer plays a vital role in food, non-food and pharmaceutical industries. However, native starches require modification (both physical and chemical) to improve its functional traits. Physical modifications are nowadays preferable as these starches could be labelled as “Natural or Clean”. Unmodified starches require heating to solubilize at room temperature. Whereas pregel starches overcome this limitation by dissolving at room temperature. Pregelatinized/ cold water soluble/ instant starches refer to the class of physically modified starches that hydrate, without heating providing instant viscosity and smooth texture when dissolved in cold water. Physical and chemical attributes could be achieved without affecting nutritional and organoleptic attributes. Different techniques like alcoholic-alkaline method, drum drying, extrusion and autoclaving are used for preparing pregels. Among all techniques, alcoholic-alkaline method has a higher edge over remaining methods adopted for preparing pregels due to superior thermal tolerance and enhanced viscosity. Instant starches/ pregels impart unique functional characteristics that are desirable for various food products. These starches also preclude the heating step and could be dissolved at room temperature giving instant viscosity. These physically modified pregelatinized starches could be utilized in different food products as fat replacers, gluten substitute, coating agents, thickeners and as texture modifiers. This mini-review aims to give a brief overview of different methods used for preparation of pregels along with its properties and applications in food products.

Authors and Affiliations