RS has a small particle size, white appearance, and bland flavor.
RS also has a low water-holding capacity. It has desirable physicochemical
properties (Fausto and others 1997) such as swelling,
viscosity increase, gel formation, and water-binding capacity,
making it useful in a variety of foods. These properties make it
possible to use most resistant starches to replace flour on a 1-for-
1 basis without significantly affecting dough handling or rheology.
RS not only fortifies fiber but also imparts special characteristics
not otherwise attainable in high-fiber foods (Tharanathan and Mahadevamma
2003). The functional properties and advantages of
commercial sources of RS2 and RS3 (Nugent 2005) have been
summarized as follows. They are natural sources, bland in flavor,
white in color, with fine particle size (which causes less interference
with texture). They have high gelatinization temperature,
good extrusion and film-forming qualities, and lower water-holding
properties than traditional fiber products. They allow the formation
of low-bulk high-fiber products with improved texture, appearance,
and mouth feel (such as better organoleptic qualities)
compared with traditional high-fiber products; they increase coating
crispness of products and the bowl life of breakfast cereals.
They are functional food ingredients lowering the calorific value
of foods and useful in products for coeliacs, as bulk laxatives and
in products for oral rehydration therapy.
Some of these properties of RS have been successfully used in a
range of baked and extruded products as described subsequently.