Recovery and purity of isolated barley starch and protein as affected by fractionation water temperature

Wet fractionation of barley flours was conducted to identify appropriate fractionation water temperature considering the recovery and purity of starch and protein. In abraded hulless regular barley, yield of starch fraction, starch recovery, and purity of the protein fraction increased from 43.3 to 45.7%, from 61.7 to 64.8%, and from 37.6 to 65.2% when water temperature in fractionation was increased from 23 to 60°C. In abraded hulless waxy barley, recovery of starch with 40°C water was much greater (67.7%) than that at other temperatures (<61.7%). Starch recovery and protein purity of regular barley cultivars were higher than those of waxy barley cultivars with fractionation water of 60°C. In whole hulless barley flours fractionated with 60°C water, waxy barley flours showed similar to or higher protein purity (44.8-48.9%) than regular barley flours (42.8- 44.6%), while regular barley flours exhibited higher starch recovery (>60.6%) than waxy barley flours (<57.3%). The purity of isolated starch was >97.7%, regardless of water temperature and barley type. Considering yield and recovery of the isolated starch, and purity of the isolated protein, 60°C water for hulless regular barley and 40°C for hulless waxy barley seem to be appropriate for fractionation of barley flour for isolation of starch and protein.