Because it seemed unlikely to us that the transition between two amorphous states would be accompanied by a sizable enthalpic, effect, we studied the effect of variation in bulk density of the starch with16% water in the DSC pan on the magnitude of the HT transition in experiments without insert. Loose filling, tapping after loose filling, and filling with added flow conditioner(0.02%) resulted in approximate bulk densities of 0.6, 0.85 and 1.0g/cm3, respectively. The magnitude @H of HT endotherm decreased in that order from 3.9 via 2.5 to1.1 J/g. There was no effect of sample mass on @H. This suggests strongly that this endotherm does not represent a true thermodynamic transition, but is rather a quite useful! - artefact associated with a sudden volume change due to the disappearance of part of the voids between the granules during the transition to a molecular melt. The void fraction and hence the expected volume change is less at higher packing density. The observation that potato starch with 16% water heated in silicon oil at a 1:1 ratio still displys a HT transition suggests that a volume change is not the only explanation for HT. In fact, potato starch settled in this medium during heating. Maize starch with 16% water, having a smaller particle size, did not show a HT transition when heated in silicon oil, at leadt not below 210