Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOES20240315017
- Term of Validity
- 15 March 2024 - 15 March 2026
- Company's Country
- Spain
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
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A Spanish technology center offers an amperometric method to quantify damage starch in flours.
The analysis of damaged starch in flours through amperometric methods is an alternative to enzymatic methods, which are lengthy and complex.
The offered analysis method requires specific equipment but allows for quick (15 minutes) and straightforward results. - Full Description
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The Spanish technology center, founded in 1998, is focusing in agrifood sector, in special, in research and analysis of cereals.
Starch, the primary energy storage source in plants, constitutes most of the wheat and wheat flour, accounting for approximately 73% of its composition. It is responsible for certain characteristics related to the viscosity or texture of many foods.
In the field of baking, starch plays a fundamental role as it serves as the substrate utilized by yeast in the fermentation process.
Starch provides fermentable sugars for the yeast, contributing to the consistency of doughs and the final baked products.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate and it is structured in the form of granules, which, during the milling process, are broken to varying degrees based on various parameters such as the milling process or grain hardness.
This mechanical damage occurring during milling results in what is known as damaged starch, which contributes to:
-Increased water absorption capacity: Damaged starch can absorb between 2 and 4 times its weight in water, compared to native starch, which absorbs 0.4 times its weight in water.
-Greater susceptibility to the action of amylolytic enzymes: Enzymes present in the flour can hydrolyze damaged starch, releasing maltose molecules that serve as a substrate for yeast in the fermentation process.
However, an excess of damaged starch can have very negative effects on the production process, related to:
-Stickiness of doughs due to the loss of part of the absorbed water.
-Excessive coloration of the final product due to Maillard reactions, stemming from an excess of simple sugars.
Therefore, understanding damaged starch is crucial both in the milling process and in the overall production process.
The technology center is looking for commercial agreement with technical assistance. - Advantages and Innovations
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The main advantages offered by this method over enzymatic methods are speed and simplicity.
The analysis of damaged starch using the amperometric method with the SD-Matic equipment from Chopin allows for a quick and reliable result. It is based on the proportionality between the iodine absorption capacity and the amount of damaged starch.
This method measures the kinetics of iodine absorption in a liquid suspension using an amperometric probe. The SD-Matic generates a quantity of iodine and subsequently measures the amount of iodine absorbed by the damaged starch granules to determine the percentage of starch damage. The assay requires distilled water, citric acid, potassium iodide, and sodium thiosulfate.
The result is expressed in %AI (iodine absorption percentage), and for wheat flours, it can also be expressed in UCD (Chopin Damage Unit). The duration of the assay is 15 minutes.
Through the SD-Matic, direct measurements are obtained for:
- The degree of damage suffered by the flour starch in %AI (percentage of iodine absorption).
- The iodine absorption rate, providing insight into the hardness of the milled wheat. - Stage of Development
- Already on the market
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
- IPR status
- No IPR applied
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
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The target sector for this offer includes any company or research center working with flour, especially wheat flour.
This encompasses both flour mills and companies involved in the production of cereal- derived products such as bread, cookies, cakes, etc., which use flour as a raw material. - Type and Size of Partner
- Big company
- SME <=10
- R&D Institution
- SME 11-49
- SME 50 - 249
- University
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 08001005 - Food Technology
- 08001002 - Food Additives/Ingredients/Functional Food
- 08003 - Micro- and Nanotechnology related to agrofood
- 08002001 - Detection and Analysis methods
- 08002002 - Food Microbiology / Toxicology / Quality Control
- Market keywords
- 05008002 - Food and feed ingredients
- 05009001 - Food & feed ingredients
- 05009004 - Plant health
- 09005 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Animal Husbandry & Related Products
- Sector Groups Involved
- Agri-Food
- Targeted countries
- All countries