Starch can change structure when cooked and then cooled, affecting the quality of starchy foods. A new study used DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy to investigate this process. They found that at low water levels, the enthalpy change of retrograded starch is higher than native starch. The molecular order of reheated retrograded starch is lower than gelatinized starch. This suggests that the enthalpy change at low water levels involves melting of recrystallized starch and residual starch crystallites. The endothermic transition of retrograded starch gels at low water levels does not fully represent starch retrogradation. Very low or high water levels do not support starch retrogradation.