Masters Thesis

The effect of commercial starch blockers on starch hydrolysis in vitro

This study investigated the effects of a commercial starch blocker product, a legume a-amylase inhibitor, on amylase activity utilizing starch solutions of amylose, amylopectin, potato, corn, waxy corn, and wheat. The starch blockers were assayed for their inhibitory properties using the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic (DNS) acid reducing method and the iodine-starch test. Both of these protocols utilize colorimetric absorbance principles to indicate the a-amylase activity in vitro. The DNS method measured the amount of reducing ends generated as a result of amylase activity whereas the iodine-starch test measured the amount of starch present in the solution. The data were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance. From these data, no significant difference (p>0.05) was found in amylase activity using various starches in the presence or absence of the starch blocker products. There was also no significant difference (p>0.05) between the different starch blockers in their ability to inhibit a-amylase activity. From these results, it can be concluded that the tested commercial starch blocker formulations did not inhibit the activity of α-amylase in vitro.

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