Gelatinization and Gelation Process of Japanese sweets -Warabi-mochi-

Fig. 1 Chemical structure of amylopectin.

<!--[endif]---->“Warabi-mochi” is one of Japanese traditional sweets and is made from mainly starch and water (and sugar and so on). The way to make Warabi-mochi is to heat and stir the mixed suspension of starch and water then to cool down the gelatinized “mixed starch and water”. Fig.1 shows the chemical structure of starch (amylopectin). The amylopectin has a lot of branches because of both α(1-4) bond and α(1-6) bond. Warabi-mochi is safe for human and quite significant for our daily life such as boiling rice (making “gohan”), making noodle, baking breads and so many foods. Recently, it has been used as a supporting medicine of swallowing for preventing aspiration in aged persons. It’s well known that a texture and feel of Warabi-mochi depend on various parameters such as the contents (ratio) of starch and water, heating for time and temperature, and cooling process. However, the processes of making Warabi-mochi are unclear from the view point of molecular structure. In order to control these properties, we focus on the structural change during gelatinization and gelation processes with X-ray and viscoelastic measurements.<!--![endif]---->