Attached
Flour has been an ample source of research and most abundant material for a number of food applications. The aim of this study
is to introduce modified Kithul flour for certain industrial requirements. Several physical and chemical treatments were employed
to modify Kithul (Caryota urens) flour. The effects of pregelatinization (PG-I and II), acid modification (AC), and dextrinization
(DX) on their swelling power, solubility, granular morphology, viscosity, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were studied. At
75∘
C, pregelatinized treated (PG-II) flour had a high solubility (5.31), while at 70∘
C pregelatinized treated (PG-I) flour had a low
solubility (4.47) as compared to the solubility of native flour sample (RW = 4.88). Same pattern has been followed by the swelling
power while viscosity showed the highest value for PG-II (7296.51 Cp) and lowest value for DX treatment (873.40 Cp) as peak
viscosities. There were no significant changes in granular size of all treatments compared with the native Kithul flour (45.52 𝜇m).
X-ray diffraction (XRD) also followed the same pattern by presenting Bragg’s angle (2𝜃) positions near 15 (Peak 1), 17 (Peak 2), 18
(Peak 3), and 23 (Peak 4) providing evidence for the presence of crystallites which belong to type A in all modified and native Kithul
flour treatments.
