Radiolysis of Starch

In the first part of the paper the results of work on the identification and determination of the gamma (60Co) radiolysis products of maize starch are brought together and, wherever possible, a balance drawn up by chemical class. The second part of the paper deals with the main parameters governing radiolysis: dose, irradiation temperature and atmosphere, water content and the conditions under which the irradiated starch is stored. The third part, devoted to the mechanisms believed to be involved, contains the following conclusions: (a) the formation of radiation-induced products with a carbon skeleton probably results from a breaking of the → C — O — C <- chains with rearrangement of the radicals and/or a reaction involving the water and the oxygen - the oxygen has an activating effect which does not fundamentally modify the mechanism, whereas the effect of the water is more complex and varies according to the product; (b) the formation of hydrogen peroxide probably implies the addition of atmospheric oxygen to the radiation-induced hydrogen atoms in the water or to the organic radicals obtained by abstraction of a hydrogen from the starch. Lastly, the different methods envisaged for confirming or improving the mechanistic hypotheses are discussed. (author)