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Ionic liquids for starch processing
The thermal transition of starch is largely influenced by the ratio of ionic liquid/water. Aqueous ionic liquid with a certain ionic liquid/water ratio leads to the most effective structural disorganisation of some starches at significantly reduced temperature (even at room temperature). It is proposed that for starches with granule surface pores (e.g. millet, waxy maize, normal maize and wheat starches), the corrosion by the aqueous IL follows an inside-out pattern and the destruction to the granules is fast and even, whereas for starches with a relatively smooth surface (e.g. high-amylose maize, potato, purple yam and pea starches), the corrosion can only start from the surface and thus the change caused the aqueous IL is slow. Even blended with a small amount of the aqueous IL, the former type of starches can undergo plasticization under thermomechanical processing at a moderate temperature (≤65 °C).

Metal chloride salt solutions for starch processing
Starch, even high-amylose starch, can be fully dissolved by aqueous metal chloride salts (e.g. ZnCl2, CaCl2, and MgCl2) at moderate temperature (≤50 °C), and starch nanoparticles can form during this dissolution process. Under thermomechanical processing, ZnCl2 solution has an excellent plasticisation effect on starch and in-situ formed starch-zinc complexes can enhance the mechanical properties of starch-based materials. Simply mixing CaCl2 solution with starch can lead to starch-based materials with ionic conductivity and strain-responsiveness.