Recently, hairless canary seed has received generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and an approval as a novel food from Health Canada. There is a need to characterize its components for food and nonfood applications. In this study, thermal and functional properties of starch obtained from two hairless canary seed varieties were investigated and compared with commercial wheat starch. Both canary seed starches (CSS) had polygonal granules with a diameter range of 0.5–7.5 μm and average of 2.6 μm. The CSS showed a typical crystal structure (A-type) of cereal starches but exhibited a strong amylose-lipid complex peak at 4.4°A. DSC data showed that CSS have higher gelatinization transition temperatures (onset, peak, and conclusion temperatures) and broader gelatinization range compared with wheat starch. The CSS also exhibited higher peak, trough, final, breakdown, and setback viscosity in addition to higher swelling power and water solubility index than wheat starch. The exudate from CSS gels after freeze-thawing treatment was lower than that of wheat starch gel, but CSS suspensions showed less clarity. The distinct properties of CSS, particularly having uniform and small granules, low amount of damaged starch and amylose, and better gel stability, would make it a promising nonconventional starch source.

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