Physicochemical Studies of Starch Isolated from Forest Tubers Stephania glabra and Pueraria thomsonii

Abstract

Starches from the tubers of S. glabra and P. thomsonii were isolated, purified and characterized. Scanning electron microscopy of the granules of both starches showed that they were spherical in shape while some were polygonal. P. thomsonii starch had low protein and phosphorus, a comparable amount of fat, higher content of amylose and lower water binding capacity than S. glabra starch. Gelatinization temperature, swelling power and solubility of P. thomsonii starch was lesser than S. glabra starch. At all reference points Brabender viscosity of the P. thomsonii starch was higher than S. glabra starch. Being fragile in character the viscosity of S. glabra starch fell precipitously with the time of heating.

Efficacy and safety ofStephania glabra: an alkaloid-rich traditional medicinal plant

“…Apart from the above phytochemicals, the tubers of the plant also contain starch with spherical or polygonal shape, and having good water binding capacity. The isolated starch was found to have protein, phosphorus, fat and amylose (Soni et al 1986). Chemical constituents isolated from the tubers of S. glabra are shown in Table 1, and their structures are depicted in Figure 2.…”

Physicochemical Studies on Starches Isolated from Plantain Cultivars, Plantain Hybrids and Cooking Bananas

“…Water binding capacities of the fruit starches were similar except for the slightly larger value for Fougamou starch. The higher amylose content of this starch would have been expected to decrease water binding [33]; however this was probably offset by the much larger surface area for water absorption of the relatively small Fougamou starch granules (see Table 2). Fruit starch absolute densities (Table 3) were relatively higher than those reported for cereal [22] and tuber [31] starches, which indicates their greater compactness and may, at least partially, explain their greater restrictive swelling behaviour.…”

Alkaloid variations within the genus Stephania (Menispermaceae) in China

“…Most Stephania plants are herbaceous lianas with huge swollen tubers, which are also medicinal parts. A large tuber from an adult Stephania plant has a diameter of approximately 23 cm and a weight of up to 30 kg [ 3 ] and thus constitutes a large part of the whole plant. In particular, Stephania plants are rich in alkaloids and have been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat a wide range of diseases, e.g., inflammation, asthma, tuberculosis, hyperglycemia, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases [ [4] , [5] , [6] ].…”