Hydrocolloids are used in starch-based products to improve stability and to obtain specific textural characteristics. In stirred batch systems with constant jacket temperature, xanthan gum, guar gum and sodium alginate (1% w/w) were added to corn starch (10% w/w) and sucrose (15% w/w) in aqueous systems to test their effects on granule swelling, starch gelatinization temperatures and viscoelastic behavior of the hot paste. As heating is not instantaneous, time-temperature relationships cannot be avoided. In this regard, heat penetration was faster in viscoelastic systems with lower complex dynamic modulus (G*) values, while pastes containing gums showed lower heat transfer rates during gelatinization. Microscopy and image analysis were applied to describe the granule swelling process in starch gelatinization. Starch granule swelling was considerably reduced by the presence of gums due to the lower heating rates and the decreased mobility of water molecules. The presence of sucrose increased starch gelatinization temperatures, measured by differential scanning calorimetry; gum addition did not show a significant influence on these temperatures. The effect of time and temperature on the starch swelling process was modelled considering, as driving force, the difference between the instantaneous mean curvature of the granule (reciprocal of the diameter) and the asymptotic curvature. Gelatinization rate constants were calculated for the different pastes and the lowest values were observed for starch pastes added with gums. Activation energies ranged from 80 (+/-14) to 119 (+/-3) kJ mol(-1), being comparable to values reported in the literature for starch gelatinization measured by different methods. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.