Cationic starch-based polymeric surfactant, 2-hydroxy-3-(N,N,N-trimethylammonium)propyloxy starch (S-ETAC) from Dioscorea pyrifolia tubers, was synthesized by etherification using 2,3-epoxytrimethylammonium chloride (ETAC) in the mass ratio of ETAC/starch (St) of 0.15:1, 0.25:1, 0.5:1, 1:1, 2:1 g/g and sodium hydroxide as a catalyst in aqueous medium. The degree of substitution (DS) and reaction efficiency (RE) were calculated using the percentage of nitrogen derived from the elemental analysis. The study found that the more the ETAC used, the higher the DS (0:11 to 0.76), but the RE decreased (69% to 35%). This S-ETAC was characterized by using the solubility and swelling power tests as well as attenuated total reflectanceFourier transform infra-red (ATR -FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to prove the reaction occurs at the starch structure.Keywords: cationic starch, etherification, Dioscorea pyrifolia Abstrak Surfaktan polimer berasaskan kanji kationik, kanji 2-hidroksi-3-(N,N,N-trimetilammonium)propiloksi (S-ETAC) dari ubi Dioscorea pyrifolia, telah disintesis melalui tindak balas pengeteran menggunakan 2,3-epoksitrimetilammonium klorida (ETAC) dalam nisbah jisim ETAC/kanji (St) 0.15: 1, 0.25: 1, 0.5: 1, 1: 1, 2: 1 g/g dan natrium hidroksida sebagai pemangkin dalam medium akueus. Darjah penukargantian (DS) dan kecekapan tindak balas (RE) telah dikira menggunakan peratusan nitrogen yang diperolehi daripada penganalisis unsur. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa lebih banyak ETAC yang digunakan, semakin tinggi DS (0.11 kepada 0.76), tetapi RE menurun (69% kepada 35%). S-ETAC dicirikan dengan menggunakan ujian keterlarutan dan kuasa pembengkakkan serta spektroskopi transformasi Fourier inframerah -jumlah pantulan teratenuat (FTIR -ATR), kalorimetri pengimbas pembezaan (DSC) dan pembelauan sinar-X (XRD) untuk membuktikan bahawa tindak balas berlaku pada struktur kanji.