Abstract
The effects of taste substances on the syneresis of cornstarch pastes were studied by a centrifugation method. The concentration of cornstarch was fixed at 3.0 wt%, and sucrose (0-50 wt%), sodium chloride (0-25 wt%), citric acid (pH 6.3-3.0), caffeine (0-2.7 wt%) and sodium L-glutamate (0-18 wt%) were added in a wide concentration range. The degree of syneresis for the cornstarch pastes in the range of 10-20 wt% of added sucrose was decreased because of the increased size of the starch granules. Moreover, no syneresis occurred for the paste with 25 wt% sodium chloride and the paste with citric acid at pH 3.0. This indicates that many amylose and amylopectin chains were leached out from the starch granules and formed entangled networks. However, these results were exceptions, and the degree of syneresis for the other pastes with added taste substances reached about 23% after 45 days of storage at 5°C. This value was the same as that for the cornstarch paste without any added taste substance. No marked effects on the syneresis of cornstarch pastes were thus apparent by adding taste substances.
