Effect of natural fermentation on the structure and physicochemical properties of wheat starch

Tong Zhao; Xiaoping Li; Ruizhen Zhu; Zhen Ma; Liu Liu; Xiaolong Wang; Xinzhong Hu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.04.061

Effect of natural fermentation on the structure and physicochemical properties of wheat starch

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Aug 15:218:163-169. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.04.061. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Authors

Tong Zhao¹, Xiaoping Li², Ruizhen Zhu¹, Zhen Ma¹, Liu Liu¹, Xiaolong Wang¹, Xinzhong Hu³

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China.
² College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China. Electronic address: xiaopingli@snnu.edu.cn.
³ College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Science, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, China. Electronic address: hzinzhong@126.com.

PMID: 31221317
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.04.061

Abstract

In this study, the effects of natural fermentation on the multi-scale structure and physicochemical properties of wheat starch were investigated. The results showed that fermentation reduced weight-average molecular weight (M_w) and slightly eroded the starch granule surface. An obvious increase in relative crystallinity from X-ray diffraction was observed in all fermented starch (39.38-42.27%) when compared with native starch (37.15%). Data from small angle X-ray scattering revealed that fermentation increased the crystalline layer and decreased the amorphous region of the starch granules. The intensity of absorption related to hydrogen bonding by FT-IR (3000-3600 cm^-1) also increased in fermented starch. The rapid viscosity analysis results showed that fermented starch had a lower peak viscosity and final viscosity, and a lower setback value than native starch. The present results reveal that fermentation is an effective method to modify wheat starch and suggest its potential to improve the quality of starch-based foods.

Keywords: Fermentation; Physicochemical properties; Structure; Wheat starch.