Physico—chemical Properties of Cassava Pearl

Abstract

Referring to the visiting of cassava pearl factories, it was observed that all factories possess the similar technology but the quality of the products are quite different. Therefore, it was very interesting to investigate the products backward to the process in order to understand how the process affects the physical and chemical properties of the cassava pearls. This understanding is expected to be very useful for the improvement of the process which will fulfil the quality control and quality improvement purposes. This research studied the physico—chemical properties of both small and large sizes of cassava pearls. The samples of cassava pearls were taken from seven factories in Thailand. The physical properties, i.e., roundness, sphericity and density together with the chemical properties, i.e., moisture content, gelatinized content and pH were investigated. It was found that the physico—chemical properties of cassava pearl from different sources were varied. Especially, the chemical properties of large—sized cassava pearl were obviously different from those of small—sized one due to the gelatinized content. This implies that the manufacturing process of cassava pearl, especially during gelatinization affects these properties.

Keywords : Cassava Pearl / Tapioca Starch / Physico—chemical Properties