Kerry Huber, associate professor at the University of Idaho and Chair of the IFT Carbohydrate Division in 2004-05.

Complete starch dissolution with minimal molecular degradation of amylopectin and amylose is a prerequisite for valid structural analysis of starch by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Starch dissolution is commonly achieved by aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or strong inorganic alkali (e.g., KOH, NaOH) in combination with physical (e.g., stirring, homogenization, sonication) and thermal (e.g., boiling, autoclaving, microwave heating) treatments.

Fig. 1 SEC chromatograms (A, recovery; B, blue value) of normal soft wheat starch subjected to 35 (gray circles, 45 (white circles), or 60 sec (black circles) heating time in a microwave oven in the presence of aqueous KOH/urea.

The complete article: Microwave-Assisted Starch Dissolution for Size-Exclusion Chromatography