The association behavior of starch and chitosan and the dilute solution properties of the starch/chitosan complex were investigated by means of resonance light scattering（RLS） spectra.The interaction between starch and chiotsan was proved by RLS.Based on the results,the appropriate association condition was selected.However,the solution property of starch/chitosan was affected greatly by external factors such as pH value and metal ionic strength.The change of pH,which causes the irreversible transition of solution from transparent into murky,provides some important information of partitioning behavior of the complex in solution.The durative enhancement of RLS intensity for the complex exhibited two inflexions and a plateau in the presence of a certain amount of Fe 3＋.It indicates that Fe 3＋ not only increases the RLS intensity,but also induces the micell-aggregate transition of the complex in solution.Moreover,the thermodynamic parameters for micell formation process at different temperatures,based on the RLS values,were calculated.
