Exploration of Breadfruit, Jicama, and Rice Starches as Stabilizer in Food Emulsion

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the ability of three native starches from Indonesia to stabilize oil in water emulsion with and without the addition of lecithin as surfactant. Breadfruit, bengkuang (jicama), and rice starches were extracted from local sources in Banda Aceh - Indonesia. Two variables studied were type of starches and the amount of oil added into emulsion (15 and 25%). Proximate analysis showed that the starch content of breadfruit, jicama and rice were 77.57, 67.41, and 80.51% respectively and the amylose content were 20.50, 16.5, and 13.6%. Results showed that the emulsification index (EI) of emulsion prepared with jicama and rice starches were lower than the EI of emulsion stabilized by breadfruit starch. However, the viscosity of breadfruit emulsion was higher than the other two emulsions. Storage stability test in room temperature also demonstrated that oil in water emulsion made from breadfruit starch had the lowest separation rate over storage period compared to jicama and rice emulsions. Overall, stabilization of 25% oil in breadfruit emulsion was slightly better than addition of 15% oil where the visible boundaries or serum layer of the emulsion was in the range of 5-6 ml at the end of storage test. Breadfruit starch was further modified by reacting it with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) to produce OSA-modified breadfruit starch. The degree of substitution (DS) of OSA modified breadfruit starch was 0.0231. OSA-modified breadfruit starch is highly potential to be used as food emulsifier and therefore studied further to examine its ability to stabilize oil in water emulsion.