Abstract:

Sago starch has high commercial value and a broad development potential in China. In this study, by comparing
with potato starch and sweet potato starch, the digestibility of sago starch was examined using the Englyst method and the
relations with pasting properties, amylose content, molecular chain length distribution or fat content were explored. The
results showed that sago starch contained higher content of rapidly digestible starch (RDS, 90.32%) and lower resistant
starch (RS) content (3.27%). Sago starch also contained lower level of fat content (0.11%), higher content of short chain
(degree of polymerization (DP) 10–30, 83.57%), lower content of long-chain starches (DP ＞ 55, 0.80%), higher content of
amylose (29.3%) and lower final viscosity value (1 096.67 mPa·s). The chain length distribution, amylose and lipid content
played main roles in the starch digestion characteristics.

Key words: sago starch, digestion, pasting properties, chain length distribution, amylose