The Characteristics and Industrial Applications of Natural and Hydrophobic Modified Starch

Abstract This study presents a product based on natural cassava starch with hydrophobic characteristics, which has been developed to replace the natural starch used in different industries. The natural and hydrophobic starch results describe their characteristics, validate the hydrophobicity through mathematical modeling, and present case studies from the paper and fruit processing industries that will be compared. The hydrophobicity and low viscosity of the modified Starch studied in this paper result from the reaction between hydrophobic radicals and the starch chain obtained from applying alkyl ketene dimer. A test for viscosity versus pH is also used to compare results for natural and modified starch, a kinetic model for water absorption is fitted to the hydration of samples of natural and modified starch, and the ability of a biofilm of modified starch to preserve fruit is also assessed. The degree of preservation of the fruit could be seen in the pictures that show that the fruit covered in the modified starch film has fewer alterations to its appearance after 64 days of observation. Moreover, the hydrophobic starch demonstrates superior results from the quality assessment when applied practically with paper and fruit, demonstrating their industrial potential.