Influence of Amylose-Amylopectin Ratio on Properties of Extruded Starch Plastic Sheets

Abstract

Abstract Starch plastic sheets were prepared by extrusion processing of mixtures of granular high-amylopectin and high-amylose starches in the presence of glycerol and water as plasticizers. Amylose content varied between 0 and 70% (w/w). Structural characterization and determination of the mechanical properties of the sheets were performed after aging the materials between 40–65% relative humidity for 2 and 35 weeks and at 90% relative humidity for two weeks. The materials were semicrystalline and viscoelastic. The materials were described as complex heterogeneous multiphase materials. They consisted of amorphous and crystalline phases of amylose and amylopectin as well as granular structures and domains of amylose, amylopectin and amylose-amylopectin helices. Single-helical type crystallinity was formed solely by amylose directly after processing while B-type crystallinity was rapidly formed in amylose-rich materials and slowly during aging of amylopectin-rich materials. The stress-strain and stress-relaxation properties were related to differences in amylose content, degree of crystallization and water content. The amorphous amylopectin rich materials were flexible and soft but showed an increase in stiffness and a decrease in elongation due to crystallization. Amylopectin-rich materials showed unfavorable relaxation, shrinkage and cracking during aging. The materials rich in amylopectin were sensitive to water content while the amylose-rich materials were not sensitive to water in the range of 9–13% (w/w). Stress-strain relaxation behaviors of the materials were dependent on starch structure and on experimental conditions such as strain rate and extension by which the ratio of elastic and viscous response were varied. An increase in relaxation times was found with increasing amylose content and water content for the materials with solely amylose crystallinity.