Chemical Modifications of Normal and Waxy Potato Starches Affect Functional Properties of Aerogels

Aerogels are of increasing interest because of their exceptionally large surface area, porous structure, and low weight. Despite the significant increase in interest in the subject of starch-based aerogels, the number of detailed studies is rather scarce, which is especially evident in the case of chemically modified derivatives. Therefore, the study aims to evaluate the physicochemical properties of aerogels from chemically modified potato starch preparations (E 1422 and E 1450) obtained both from normal and waxy starches. Aerogels were prepared through the retrogradation of starch pastes followed by the gradual replacement of water with ethyl alcohol. The obtained preparations were characterized in terms of their bulk density, oil-binding capacity, as well as the texture and rheological properties of the formed pastes. Moreover, their usefulness was evaluated in an emulsion system employing rheological and low-field NMR methods. The obtained aerogels were characterized by a lower bulk density of 0.18–0.59 g/cm3 and 5.4–6.6 times higher oil-binding capacity compared to native potato starch. The chemical modification of starch helped to further alter the functional properties of the obtained aerogels, making them more effective oil binders, emulsifiers, and stabilizers (increasing the stability from 55 to 90%), which was especially evident for E 1450 preparation. Amylose content improved the aerogel properties, as waxy preparations were characterized by worse functional properties with the only exception of improved thickening ability. The most beneficial properties for the preparation of emulsions were observed for the aerogel obtained based on E 1450 normal potato starch.