Starch radicals Part III: Semiartificial complexes

Abstract

 Nine starch varieties were blended and kneaded with d-fructose, d-glucose, sucrose, egg albumin and/or ethyl stearate to form semiartificial complexes. They were then thermolyzed and the numbers of unpaired spins in the solid residues were determined. Individual starch varieties began to generate unpaired spin states within 2 h of heating at 285  °C but some starch blends, particularly those of four-component starch (10 : 1 : 1 : 1) mixtures, generated free radicals within 2 h of heating at 160  °C. However, the free radical counts were minimized by the mutual complexation of the blend components and, to a certain extent, by the free radical scavenging in the blends.