Patent ID: 7550279

Claim:
A method for producing an amylose starch composition comprising the steps of: (A) stirring for at least 3 hours a slurry of about 35 percent solids of starch, the starch having a C-type crystallinity, in water at a temperature from about 20° C. to about 48° C. with a sufficient concentration of a base to obtain a pH of about 10; (B) cooling the slurry to a temperature between about 10°C. and 15° C.; (C) adding an esterification agent while maintaining a pH of about 8.3 and a temperature from about 10° C. and about 15° C. until a degree of substitution from about 0.08 to about 0.15 is obtained; (D) washing the starch with water to remove salts of the esterification agent; (E) diluting the starch, while adjusting the pH to about 5.8, to obtain a solids slurry of about 20 percent; (F) heating the slurry to a temperature from about 82° C. to about 105° C. for about 2 to about 5 minutes; (G) cooling the slurry to between about 50° C. to about 85° C.; (H) adding from 1.8 to 10 grams per 770 pounds of starch of a 1,4-alpha-D-glucan glucano-hydrolase to treat the slurry; (I) holding the 1,4-alpha-D-glucan glucano-hydrolase in the slurry between about 50° C. and about 85° C. until a desired, lower viscosity is attained; (J) heating the slurry to 92° C. to 105° C. to inactivate the 1,4-alpha-D-glucan glucano-hydrolase; and (K) cooling the slurry to form a gel, the gel contains sufficient stabilized amylose molecules in a helical configuration to render the gel thermo-reversible.