| Industrial isolation of field pea (FP) starch has difficulties of protein contamination and the use of large volumes of water. A simple fractionation technology was developed to obtain FP starch at higher purity and yield. Wet fractionation yield was optimized for FP flour from two cultivars using sonication (yield, 56--58%; starch purity, 81%; protein contamination, 8%). A novel step involving lactic acid treatment (0.5--7%, v/v) further increased starch purity by a maximum of 6% by decreasing residual protein. Physicochemical analysis of the lactic acid treated starch demonstrated that the purified starch had a bright white colour, free of beany odor, higher resistant starch (25%) and amylose (42%) contents. This is the first time a low pH strategy has been reported to improve FP starch purity. Furthermore, the commercial potential of the new process also discussed. |
