Hydroxypropyl Distarch Phosphate (E1442)

About This Product

Hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate is tapioca starch that has been cross-linked with a phosphate reagent and etherified with propylene oxide. It carries the additive number E1442, INS 1442, with hydroxypropyl groups limited to 7 per cent. It is the most process-tolerant and the most durable of the common modified food starches, and it is specified when a product has to withstand everything at once.

The phosphate cross-links hold the granule intact through retorting, homogenisation, pumping and a low-pH hold, exactly as they do in E1412 and E1414. The hydroxypropyl ether groups prevent retrogradation for the life of the product, exactly as they do in E1440. The combination covers the full set of stresses that a modern ambient or chilled product applies to a thickener, and it is the reason this grade has become the default in the sauce and ready-meal trade despite being the most expensive of the group.

The comparison that matters commercially is with acetylated distarch phosphate E1414, which offers the same two functions more cheaply. The case for paying more for E1442 rests on the bond. An acetyl ester is slowly cleaved by acid and heat over time, so a strongly acidic, long-dated product formulated on E1414 will measurably lose stability across its shelf life. A hydroxypropyl ether does not hydrolyse, so E1442 performs on the last day of the date code as it did on the first. For tomato-based sauces, ketchup, sweet and sour and similar systems held for a year or more, that difference is the whole argument.

It is also the grade of choice where high clarity must be maintained under acid and heat, and in the Asian snack and cracker trade for crisp texture and controlled expansion.

Bio Green Foods supplies hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, E1442, in 25 kg bags and jumbo bags. Hydroxypropyl content, residual phosphate, residual propylene chlorohydrin, degree of cross-linking and viscosity profile are confirmed on the agreed specification and on the batch certificate of analysis. It is gluten free and non-GM.