Characterization and technological properties of peach palm (Bactris gasipaes var. gasipaes) fruit starch

Abstract Peach palm fruit mesocarp (Bactris gasipaes var. gasipaes) is already consumed in the Northern region of Brazil, after its cooking and is known as a source of starch and carotenoids and like all fruits it has low storage stability. This work characterized the starch extracted from the mesocarp of peach palm fruit using with water in terms of its physical and chemical properties. The SEM micrographs show that starch presented bimodal distribution (size 3.9 - 10.4 µm), while the smaller granules had a smooth surface and an oval or conical shape, the larger granules were spherical with holes and cracks on the surface. The starch presented low amylose content (