The quality standards for the export of chestnuts generate large quantities of rejected fruits, which require novel processing technologies for their safe industrial utilization. This study aimed to investigate the impact of high-pressure processing (HPP) and hydrothermal treatments (HT) on the physicochemical properties of rejected chestnut starch. Chestnuts were treated by HPP at 400, 500, and 600 MPa for 5 min and HT at 50 °C for 45 min. In general, all HPP treatments did not induce starch gelatinization, and their granules preserved the integrity and Maltese-cross. Moreover, starch granules' size and resistant starch content increased with the intensity of pressure. Native and HT chestnut starches were the most susceptible to digestion. HPP treatments did not affect the C-type crystalline pattern of native starch, but the crystalline region was gradually modified to become amorphous. HPP-600 MPa treated starch showed modified pasting properties and exhibited the highest values of peak viscosity. This study demonstrates for the first time that after HPP-600 MPa treatment, a novel chestnut starch gel structure is obtained. Moreover, HPP treatments could increase the slow-digesting starch, which benefits the development of healthier products. HPP can be considered an interesting technology to obtain added-value starch from rejected chestnut fruits.
Keywords: Castanea sativa; high-pressure processing; novel processing; pasting; rejected fruits; starch digestion.