THE EFFECT OFFERMENTATION ON CASSAVA STARCH MICROSTRUCTURE M.J.A. MARCON, M.A. VIEIRA, K. SANTOS, K.N. DE SIMAS, R. DIAS DE MELLO CASTANHO AMBONI and E.R. AMANTE 1 Department of Food Science and Technology Santa Catarina Federal University Rodovia Admar Gonzaga, 1346 Itacorubi CEP 88034-001, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil Accepted for Publication March 9, 2006 ABSTRACT The effect of glucose syrup addition on sour cassava starch fermentation was studied on cassava starch from three locations in Santa Catarina State (Brazil), following four treatments: traditional, 0.10, 0.25 and 0.50% of glucose syrup added to total cassava suspension volume. A glucose syrup concentration of 0.50% contributed to doubling fermentation yield. The objec- tive of this work was to observe the effect of the cassava starch fermentation process on starch granule microstructure, as compared with industrial pro- cessing. Micrography was performed using a scanning electron microscope, at 2000¥ magnification. Fermentations with 0.50% glucose syrup presented the greatest effects on starch granule microstructure. INTRODUCTION Cassava starch is produced from cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crant) root by extraction, washing, purification and drying (Cereda 1983c; Vilela and Ferreira 1987; Leonel and Cereda 2000; Silveira et al. 2000). Using a fermen- tative process, cassava starch is modified by amylolytic enzymes and organic acids produced by microorganisms from the natural environment; the resulting product is called sour cassava starch (Demiate et al. 1999; Pereira et al. 1999). It is a sun-dried product, used mainly as an essential raw material in biscuit and cheese bread production (Nakamura et al. 1976; Cereda 1983a,b,c, 1987; Cereda and Bonassi 1985; Amante 1986, Ascheri and Vilela 1995, Silveira et al. 2000, Maeda and Cereda 2001, Balagopalan 2002). However, the process 1 Corresponding author. TEL: +55 48 33315370; FAX: +55 48 33319943; EMAIL: eamante@ cca.ufsc.br Journal of Food Process Engineering 29 (2006) 362–372. All Rights Reserved. © 2006, The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2006, Blackwell Publishing 362