The use sodium hypochlorite solution in modification of Amaranthus viridis starch using central composite design response surface methodology (CCD‐RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) was studied. Optimal condition of starch (50 g), sodium hypochlorite solution (11 ml), and time (10.38) min with corresponding total amylose (36.36%), free amylose (22.68%), and lipid‐complexed amylose (13.68%) were established for CCD‐RSM. The ANN gave optimal condition of starch as 52 g, sodium hypochlorite solution (10.70 ml) and time (11.52 min) with corresponding total amylose, free amylose, and lipid‐complexed amylose of 36.75%, 24.98%, and 11.77%, respectively. The ANN showed network topology of 3‐9‐3 as the most suitable for the amylose synthesis. High amylose content of the oxidized starch showed that the starch could find application as fat mimetic in fat‐rich food, and emulsion stabilizer. The processing and modification steps are readily scalable.
Practical applications
Amaranthus viridis seeds contain substantial amount of starch. However, the domestic and industrial potentials of native starch are impaired. This could be surmount by substituting certain hydroxyl groups in starch molecules with carbonyl and carboxyl groups, which have ability to cause repulsion between adjacent starch molecules, and thus reduces interchain association. Oxidation of A. viridis starch enhances the availability of amylose contents. Amylose is important when starch is used as thickener, emulsion stabilizer, gelling agent, and water binder. The ability of amylose to bind water enhances the potential of starch as fat replacer. Amylose content has also been reported to greatly correlate with resistance starch (RS) content of starch. The high amylose content of the sodium hypochlorite‐treated starch indicates that it could be used to partially replace fat in fat‐rich food, and as emulsion stabilizer.