A modified equation of state was developed for shear-thickening systems. The model was applied for describing the rheological properties of various starch pastes for describing the theological properties of various starch pastes and pastes with hydrocolloids addition. The parameters of the model were estimated using the Tikhonov regularisation method. In order to compare the results, some other models were also fitted to the experimental data. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.