Cargill Inc.

Cerestar Holding B.v.

Marc Charles Florent Berckmans

Dogan Sahin Sivasligil

Stephane Jules Jerome Debon

Joel Rene Pierre Wallecan

Bruno Frédéric Stengel

Detlev Glittenberg

Rita Delrue

Rudy Roux

Johannes Felix Hintermayer

Alexander Marie Ghislain Verbiest

Rita Maria Delrue

The present invention discloses a process for modifying starches comprising subjecting a non-pregelatinized starch and/or flour to a superheated steam treatment, wherein said superheated steam treatment is carried out in a reaction chamber of a reactor, said reaction chamber having at least one inlet and at least one outlet, and wherein the temperature of the superheated steam at the inlet of the reaction chamber is in the range of 150 to 650&#xb0; C., preferably 250 to 550&#xb0; C., more preferably 350 to 450&#xb0; C., and wherein the temperature of the superheated steam at the outlet of the reaction chamber is in the range of 105 to 155&#xb0; C., preferably 115 to 140&#xb0; C., more preferably 115 to 125&#xb0; C. The invention further refers to the starches obtained and baby foods, infant foods, sauces, soups, puddings, dressings, bakery creams, gravies and beverages comprising said starches. Also disclosed is a spray dryer for treating a heat-sensitive material with superheated steam comprising a reaction chamber having at least one inlet for the introduction into the chamber of a stream of superheated steam, at least one outlet for allowing the contents of the chamber to exit and a nozzle for producing a spray of droplets into the path of the stream of superheated steam, said spray of droplets being formed from a liquid containing the heat-sensitive material, wherein the reaction chamber is adapted such that, in use, the stream of superheated steam entering the reaction chamber becomes homogeneously distributed in the chamber and flows in a direction substantially parallel with the internal wall of the reaction chamber.

Process for modifying starches

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a chemically modified polysaccharide, preferably starch, by using a microdevice. It further relates to the use of a microdevice for the chemical reactions of polysaccharides in heterogeneous mixtures. Examples of chemical modifications are acetylation, oxidation, hydroxypropylation and the like.

Microprocessing in heterogeneous reaction mixtures

A biopolymer thinning process is provided comprising the steps of (a) mixing a biopolymer substrate with a thinning agent and an alkalizing agent; and (b) drying the mixture of step (a), wherein the thinning agent consists of one or more hypochlorites; and step (a) is carried out at a neutral to alkaline pH and does not involve any artificial heating.

Process for modification of biopolymers

A starch thinning and etherification process is provided comprising the steps of (a) mixing a starch substrate with a thinning agent, an alkalizing agent and an etherification agent; (b) drying the mixture of step (a); and (c) allowing the dried mixture to react with the etherification agent, wherein: the thinning agent consists of one or more hypochlorites; step (a) is carried out at an alkaline pH and does not involve any artificial heating; and step (b) is carried out before the mixture of step (a) reaches the starch substrate's gelatinisation temperature.

Process for starch modification

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a starch-based composition, characterized in that it comprises: (a) mixing a starch substrate with sodium perborate; (b) adding water to the mix of step (a) to form a slurry; and (c) pasting the slurry of step (b), provided that the method does not include, between steps (b) and (c), the step of adding an effective amount of hydrolytic enzyme to the slurry. The invention further relates to starch-based compositions prepared in accordance with said method, paper sizing and/or coating compositions comprising said starch-based compositions and paper products treated with said sizing and/or coating compositions.

Starch derivatives for use in paper sizing and/or coating compositions

A method for preparing a cationic cross-bonding reagent wherein the amount of cross-bonding impurities is determined and a certain quantity of a cross-bonding agent is added. This cationic cross-bonding reagent is used in a process for preparing cationic cross-bonded starches with tailor-made viscosity and excellent viscosity stability. Products with tailor-made viscosity can be used according to their need in specific applications in the wet-end of papermaking.

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Brussels, Belgium

Marc Charles Florent Berckmans