for use herein , the term &# 34 ; starch &# 34 ; is meant to include any cereal or root starch or flour . examples of suitable materials include maize , rice , barley , wheat , sorghum , tapioca , potato , the waxy versions thereof as well as their corresponding flours . converted , i . e ., acid treated starches or chemically modified starches may also be used as the starting materials . for reasons of liquid product stability , waxy starch ( i . e ., containing more than 95 % amylopectin ) is preferred . in order to obtain the desired properties , it is necessary that the starch be steam cooked , i . e ., &# 34 ; jet cooked &# 34 ;, by which is meant that it is slurried and heated to temperatures of about 120 ° to 170 ° c ., in order to completely gelatinize the starch . the steam cooking is generally carried out in a slurry at a solids level of about 10 to 40 %, preferably 20 to 25 %, a ph of 4 to 7 , preferably 4 . 5 to 5 . 5 , with a pressure greater than 60 psi in the cooking chamber . the resultant fully gelatinized starch is then enzymatically hydrolyzed with the amylase using techniques known in the art and described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 525 , 672 to wurzburg et al . and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 977 , 252 to chiu . alpha - amylase , beta - amylase or glucoamylase may be used . generally the enzyme treatment is carried out at a starch concentration level of about 10 to 30 %, preferably 18 to 24 %, depending upon the base starch being treated . the enzyme reaction is continued until the starch is sufficiently degraded to provide a viscosity of 7 to 80 , preferably 16 to 60 , seconds measured at 19 % w / w solid concentration at room temperature using a standard funnel as described below . the starch dispersion is adjusted to 19 % ( w / w ) measured by refractometer . the temperature of the dispersion is controlled at 22 ° c . a total of 100 ml of the starch dispersion is measured into a graduated cylinder . it is then poured into a calibrated funnel while using a finger to close the orifice . a small amount is allowed to flow into the graduate to remove any trapped air , and the balance is poured back into the funnel . the graduated cylinder is then inverted over the funnel so that the contents draw ( flow ) into the funnel while the sample is running . using a timer , the time required for the 100 ml sample to flow through the apex of the funnel is recorded . the glass portion of the funnel is a standard 58 °, thick - wall , resistance glass funnel whose top diameter is about 9 to 10 cm with the inside diameter of the stem being about 0 . 381 cm . the glass stem of the funnel is cut to an approximate length of 2 . 86 cm from the apex , carefully firepolished , and refitted with a long stainless steel tip which is 5 . 08 cm long with an outside diameter of 0 . 9525 cm . the interior diameter of the steel tip is 0 . 5951 cm at the upper end where it is attached to the glass stem ; it is 0 . 4445 cm at the outflow end , with the restriction in the width occurring at about 2 . 54 cm from the ends . the steel tip is attached to the glass funnel by means of a teflon tube . the funnel is calibrated so as to allow 100 ml of water to go through in 6 seconds using the above procedure . ordinarily the enzyme conversion will be carried out for periods ranging from half an hour to 24 hours or more depending on the temperature , the type and concentration of enzyme , starch concentration , and viscosity . the enzyme reaction is terminated by raising the temperature to about 85 ° c . and maintaining at that temperature for about 10 minutes to fully deactivate the enzyme . acid deactivation , as known in the art , can also be employed to deactivate the enzyme . while it is preferred that the starch be steam cooked and subsequently acid hydrolyzed , it is also possible to obtain enzyme hydrolyzed starch for use herein by treating the granular starch with the amylase and then stream cooking . the resultant product is characterized by a dextrose equivalent ( de ) of 2 to 40 . dextrose equivalent is defined as the reducing power of the hydrolyzate . each starch molecule has one reducing end , therefore de is inversely related to molecular weight . the de of anhydrous d - glucose is defined as 100 and the de of unhydrolyzed starch is virtually zero . if waxy starch is employed as the base material , the final product can be used directly in liquid form wherein it will remain stable if stored under sterilized conditions . alternatively , and in the case of non - waxy starches , it can be recovered in powder form by conventional spray drying or drum drying techniques . it is characterized by its low viscosity , high degree of tackiness when wet so it can hold seasonings or particulates to the food during the drying process . it is also quick drying , providing a strong adhesive bond when dried thus ensuring that the seasonings or particulates will not fall off during later processing , packaging , transportation and storage . in order to use the resulting starch as a food binder , according to this invention , it is ordinarily dissolved in water or hot water ; the solution is prepared so that the solution concentration of the binder is 5 to 50 %, preferably above 20 %, most preferably above about 30 %. the binder solution is then applied to the surfaces of foodstuffs such as cereal pieces , cookies , biscuits , etc ., and seasonings , flavorants and colorants such as spices , fruit pieces , powdered cheese , granulated sugar , coconut , seeds , peanut grits , coloring agents , etc ., are adhered to them using conventional processes such as the spray method , sponge roller method , brush application method , or immersion method . using the following procedure a beta - amylase treated starch was prepared . the resultant starch was then formulated into various food products as described in the examples which follow . slurry 25 kg ( anhydrous weight ) of amioca in 100 l of water . adjust ph to 5 . 3 to 5 . 7 with 10 % hydrochloric acid . steam cook the slurry to produce a starch dispersion of 20 to 24 % solid with about 80 to 150 seconds of funnel viscosity measured at 10 % solid ( 100 ml ) and 22 ° c . with a standardized funnel . cool down the starch to 50 ° c . in a reaction tank . add 50 g of beta - amylase solution ( 1600 u / g ) to starch amylolytic digestion . once the desired viscosity specification ( 16 to 60 seconds as measured at 19 % solids and room temperature with 100 ml using a standard funnel ) is reached , stop the reaction by rapidly heating the dispersion to 85 ° c . and hold for about 10 minutes . spray - dry the dispersion to obtain a powdered product . the resultant food starch was then used to make a corn flake / apple bits cereal , using the following composition and procedure : ______________________________________ingredient quantity ( 9 / batch ) ______________________________________corn flakes 250 . 0sugar 14 . 8 , in 7 . 0 g of water . molasses 1 . 1apple granules 25 . 0starch of ex . 1 5 . 6 , dispersed in 13 . 1 g of water . ______________________________________ 1 ) make the sugar solution , add molasses , mix and heat to 120 ° f . 2 ) pour corn flakes and apple granules into bench - top panning reel , tumble for 30 seconds . 4 ) spread sugar / molasses syrup onto flakes and tumble for 60 seconds . 6 ) dry in a convention oven for 15 minutes at 250 ° f . the tackiness and adhesive strength or the starch of example 1 was compared with other commercial products and tested using the following procedures : 3 . drop apple bits onto the wet glaze , shake off excess and weigh 5 . when cool , gently brush off any loose apple bits and weigh bits it is important to have sufficient pick - up of the glaze without having it soak into the cracker ; sufficient pick - up of apple bits and minimal loss after drying . subjective test done by placing a drop of the solution between the fingers and observing the stickiness . the formation of thin strands of material between the fingers as it dries is considered an advantage . ______________________________________sample tackiness adhesion______________________________________starch of example 1 excellent very goodacid converted amioca ( tapon 85 ) good very goodtapioca pyrodextrin none good10 de maltodextrin none fair24 de corn syrup none fair42 de corn syrup none fairgum ( kelco ex7421 ) none fair______________________________________ the tackiness was measured by finger tests of the liquid samples . the tackiness reflects the ability of the samples to adhere the apple granules to the cracker during the drying process . the adhesion strength is measured by the percentage amount of apple granules finally adhered to the crackers at the end of the process . it reflects the adhesion effectiveness the samples in the tests . similar results were achieved coating flavorants onto tortilla chips using the following ingredients and procedures : ______________________________________ingredients grams percentage______________________________________tortilla chips 150flavor powder 9 - 30 6 %- 20 % 30 % starch solution 75 - 15 5 %- 10 % ______________________________________ 1 . pour tortilla chips and flavor powder into bencktop pan coater . 4 . spread coated chips onto tray and dry for 5 minutes at 250 ° f . in despatch oven . in the following example waxy maize starch was enzyme converted as described in example 1 but using alpha - amylase as the enzyme . the conversion was carried out to achieve three different viscosity levels , 60 , 45 and 13 seconds . the testing procedure described in examples 2 and 3 was repeated using the liquid samples without subsequent drying . the results are shown in the table below . in the table , the test results are presented in quantitative form indicating the percentage of apple granules retained on the final product . tapioca was also enzyme converted and used in accordance with the present invention . since tapioca is not a waxy starch , it is necessary to spray dry the enzyme treated starch prior to redispersion and application . two samples of tapioca were acid converted as described in example 1 . one sample was treated with alpha - amylase , the second with beta - amylase . both samples , when tested as food binders , provided very good adhesion and tackiness .
a method for adhering seasoning to a food product comprising the steps of : a ) coating the food product with a solution containing an effective amount of an amylase treated starch ; b ) adhering thereon at least one seasoning , flavorant , or colorant ; and c ) drying the resultant food product ; the amylase treated starch having been prepared by steam cooking starch , and enzymatically hydrolyzing said cooked starch with amylase in an amount and for a sufficient time to achieve a funnel viscosity of 7 to 80 seconds , and a dextrose equivalent of 2 to 40 .