Physicochemical, Morphological, Thermal, and Rheological Properties of Native Starches Isolated from Four Cultivars of Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn.) Tuber

Anchote (Coccinia abyssinica (Lam.) Cogn) is a potentially important source of starch and an underutilized root and tuber crop indigenous to Ethiopia. In this study, the physicochemical, morphological, thermal, and rheological properties of native starches isolated from four cultivars of anchote tubers were studied and compared to potato and cassava starches, which were considered as references. The amylose content of anchote starches varied from 15.8–22.3%. The anchote cultivars showed different granule sizes, but all revealed a B-type crystalline structure, identical to potato starch. The phosphorus content of anchote starches ranged from 82–93 mg/100 g and was much higher than that of potato and cassava (60.3 and 5.8 mg/100 g, respectively). This characteristic could govern several functional properties of anchote starches, making them suitable for applications in different types of noodles, glucose syrups, and viscous products. The gelatinization temperature and enthalpy of anchote starches, which ranged from 60.97 °C to 69.33 °C and 16.87 to 18.38 J/g, respectively, were considerably different compared to potato and cassava starches. Significant variations were also observed among the pasting properties of starches from anchote cultivars. They showed a higher stability to heating and shearing, having higher TV (2046 to 2280 mPa·s) and lower BV (248 to 487 mPa·s) values, and a higher final viscosity (3409 to 3686 mPa·s) than potato and cassava, which are important characteristics in food processing and when high gel viscosity is required after cooling. Anchote starch gels exhibited rheological characteristics of true gels, showing much lower (tan δ)(1) values and significantly higher viscoelastic moduli than those found in cassava and potato gels. The present study revealed significant differences among the physicochemical properties of anchote starches, depending on the cultivar, and demonstrated their promising potential in food product development and other industrial applications.