Size reduction of taro (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) starch through sonification and nano precipitation

• Main Authors: Abrigo, Iris Joy V., Sulabo, April Shayne L., Dorado, Adeliza Abaño, Flores, Floirendo P., Migo, Veronica P.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Nanoparticles; Precipitation (Chemistry); Taro; Starch; Chemistry; Physics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11122
• Institution: De La Salle University

Starch nanoparticles have been gaining research interest for its potential to improve mechanical and barrier properties of biocomposites and carrying capacity for active ingredients. Taro is one of the indigenous tubers in the Philippines that is a good candidate for generating starch nanoparticles since it has lower granule size as compared to other starchy tubers. This study aims to optimize the generation of taro starch with reduced particle size through ultrasonication and nano precipitation. Central composite design of the response surface methodology was used to determine the optimum condition (starch concentration (%w/v), sonication time (min), and starch:ethanol ratio (v/v)) to reduce the size of taro starch based on the Z-average of particles. The model generated was used to predict an optimum run to produce the taro starch with the lowest Z-average. Starch:ethanol ratio was found to have significant linear and quadratic effects on the model. After validation, the optimum run produced a taro starch with Z-average of 256.74±14.75 nm with 0.65% error. The size cannot be considered as a nanoparticle based on ISO standard. Using the equation generated from the model, parameters like sonication time can be set to minimum and starch concentration can be set to maximum to produced the highest yield at the shortest processing time. This study focused on the optimization and characterization of laboratory scale produced taro starch with reduced particle size and did not include pilot commercial run.