The effect of shear and gel formation on the behaviour of heat-treated wheat, maize and potato starch dispersions was studied using dynamic viscoelastic measurements. The starch types were compared both at a concentration of 10% and at concentrations where the same level of shear forces was applied during the paste preparation procedure (11% wheat, 10% maize, and 4% potato). The cereal and the potato starch pastes initially showed similar viscoelastic properties after gelatinization, but the cereal starch pastes underwent a transition in their viscoelastic behaviour when cooled. This transition was believed to be due to the gelation of amylose. The main changes observed were a sharp increase in the shear modulus and a drop in the phase angle to below 2 degrees. No such transition occurred on cooling the potato starch pastes, at 25°C for 1 h, in the concentration range studied (4-10%).