Prediction of the state diagram of starch water mixtures using the Flory--Huggins free volume theory

In this paper we analyse the phase and state transitions of starch and other glucose homopolymers and oligomers using the free volume extension of the Flory–Huggins theory by Vrentas and Vrentas, combined with the Couchman–Karasz theory for the glass transition. Using scaling relations of model parameters with molar weight we have obtained accurate predictions of moisture sorption and the freezing, boiling, and melting data obtained from literature for starch, dextrans, pullulan and maltodextrins. With the estimated model parameters we can construct the complete state diagram for starch, which can now be used as a quantitative tool for design and analysis of food structuring processes.