Effect of Heat-Moisture Treatment on Sweet Cassava Flour: Enhancing Pasting and Gel Properties and Viscosity Improvement in Batter System

The effect of ethanol solutions applied before heat-moisture treatment (HMT) on the pasting and gel properties of sweet cassava flour was investigated. Cassava flour was soaked in 0-60% ethanol solutions and adjusted to 30% moisture content before heating at 100 °C for 1 hour. The treated flours were called HMT-water, HMT-E20, HMT-E40, and HMT-E60, respectively. The viscosity of the modified flours (381.5-295.1 RVU) was higher than that of the native, untreated flour (146.6 RVU). Viscosity and breakdown values decreased as the concentration of ethanol increased. After HMT, the flour gels were stable and could retain their shapes. After cutting, the gel inside of HMT-E40 and HMT-E60 looked firm and had a less squishy texture. The viscosity profile of the batter made from HMT-E40 was similar to that of the commercial batter. The obtained result implies that cassava flour soaked in 40% and 60% ethanol solutions before HMT might improve batter pick-up and reduce the soggy texture of the frying batter.