Raw sage starch and sage starch pretreated by heating at 60 degrees C for 2 hours in sodium acetate buffer (pH 3.5) were hydrolysed using commercial glucoamylase-AMG (EC 3.2.1.3), alpha-amylases-BAN, Fungamyl and Termamyl (EC 3.2.1.1), debranching amylase-Promozyme (EC 3.2.1.41), and their mixtures in sodium acetate buffer pH 5.0 at 35 degrees C. Raw sage starch was a poor substrate for enzyme action compared to corn and tapioca starches tested under the same conditions, although pretreating the starch increased the extent and rate of hydrolysis. A strong synergism between glucoamylase and alpha-amylase on the hydrolysis of both untreated and pretreated sage starch was observed The hydrolysis products were characterized by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). The total carbohydrate concentration of hydrolysed sage starch decreased but the amylose and amylopectin ratios in the residues remained the same. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.