18th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Continued Screening of Amaranth Accessions for Variation in Starch Properties
Ejikemenwa "Ejike" I. Anih* and Melvin E. Omodon
Dr. Mark Campbell, Faculty Mentor
During the summer of 2003, we conducted a study at Truman State University with the long term objective of identifying amaranth accessions having unique thermal properties. Using a modified DSC method, Ejikemenwa Anih screened 220 amaranth ground grain samples for variation in DSC thermograms that may reflects variations in starch gelatinization temperature and amylose content and found a great deal of variation. However, we do not know for certain that this variation is due to actual differences in starch properties because these samples do not represent pure starch but instead ground grain. Therefore, our first objective for this subsequent study was to grow out the subset of accessions previously analyzed in order to obtain larger grain sample for further analysis of purified starch. A DSC analysis of these purified samples will help us determine if a correlation exists between these values and those obtained from the ground grain samples conducted last summer.
Keywords: Amaranth, Starch, DSC, Ejikemenwa Anih, Melvin Omodun
Topic(s):Agricultural Science
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 29-55
Location: OP Lobby & Atrium
Time: 1:15