Preparation and physicochemical characterization of icacina starch citrate – a potential pharmaceutical / industrial starch

摘要

Chemical modification of the starch of icacina trichantha tuber was carried out to produce the citrate derivative. The icacina starch citrate which was prepared by reacting previously extracted native icacina starch with citric acid at elevated temperatures was found to be white, crystalline and a non – hygroscopic powder which gave a percentage yield of 76.8 % from the native starch starting material. The starch citrate prepared was insoluble in water and had a swelling capacity of 16.42 at 85 OC in water. It did not gelatinize when heated at 100 OC in water for 30 min. It has a browning temperature of 206.7 – 215.8 OC, charring temperature of 226.1 – 235.5 OC, water absorption capacity of 83.25 %, pH of 4.59, foam and emulsion capacities of 4.0 % and 7.8 % respectively. Proximate analysis (in %) was found to be: fat – 1.5, ash – 3.0, protein – 0.66, moisture – 10.75, and carbohydrates – 84.09. The photomicrograph shows that the starch citrate granule has an oblong shape, generally small to medium sized (sizes ranging from 10 – 15 μm) with occasional large ones. Comparison of the physicochemical properties of the native icacina starch with the citrate derivative indicates that it is a better disintegrant than native icacina starch in tablet formulations.