This study was to compare the characteristics of 21 starches isolated from chestnuts produced in different regions in China, also to investigate their potential food applications. Starches were isolated from chestnuts under the Castanea mollisima Blume variety with sub-varieties of Banli, Youli, and Maoli. Several properties of the starch samples were examined, including the moisture content, amylose content, morphological characteristics, color values, light transmittance, syneresis, swelling power, water solubility index, pasting properties, FTIR characteristics, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and thermal properties. The results showed that starches isolated from Youli presented higher resistance to shear and swelling during heating, indicating more suitability for high-heat cooking. The FTIR spectra confirmed the polysaccharide nature of all the chestnut starches. The XRD patterns showed most chestnut starches were in Cb-type, while only five were in Ca-type. Overall, this comparative study would be relevant for the further exploration of the potential utilization of chestnut starch in both food and non-food industries.
Keywords: Chestnut starch; Morphology; Physicochemical properties.
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