Pulsed electric field-assisted esterification improves the freeze-thaw stability of corn starch gel by changing its molecular structure

Bo-Ru Chen; Yong-Xin Teng; Lang-Hong Wang; Fei-Yue Xu; Ying Li; Qing-Hui Wen; Rui Wang; Jian Li; Zhen Wang; Xin-An Zeng

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.304

Pulsed electric field-assisted esterification improves the freeze-thaw stability of corn starch gel by changing its molecular structure

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Mar 15:231:123085. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.304. Epub 2022 Dec 30.

Authors

Bo-Ru Chen¹, Yong-Xin Teng², Lang-Hong Wang¹, Fei-Yue Xu¹, Ying Li², Qing-Hui Wen², Rui Wang², Jian Li³, Zhen Wang², Xin-An Zeng⁴

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Manufacturing, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China.
² School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Manufacturing, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China; School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Food Manufacturing, Foshan University, Foshan 528225, China; School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Preparatory Office of Yangjiang Applied Undergraduate College, Yangjiang 529500, China. Electronic address: xazeng@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 36592854
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.12.304

Abstract

The influence of pulsed electric field (PEF) combined with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) on the freeze-thaw stability of corn starch gel was investigated. After five freeze-thaw cycles, the syneresis value of OSA starch treated with PEF-assisted esterification for 15 min was lower by 29.5 %, while that of OSA starch without PEF treatment was lower by 10.17 %, compared to that of native starch. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance data showed that the introduction of OSA groups greatly increased the water-holding capacity of starch. Results from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the PEF-assisted esterification markedly hindered the re-formation of the helical structure of starch during freeze-thaw cycles. Moreover, PEF-assisted esterification improved the viscoelastic properties of the starch gel. It is found that the freeze-thaw stability of the PEF-modified starch depends not only on the degree of substitution but also on the starch molecular fine structure. PEF-assisted OSA starch with a high degree of substitution, a low content of amylose, and a high content of short amylopectin chains were found to have high freeze-thaw stability. This study shows that PEF-assisted esterification is a promising technique that should be used for preserving the quality of frozen foods.

Keywords: Freeze-thaw stability; Octenyl succinic anhydride; Pulsed electric field.

MeSH terms

Esterification
Molecular Structure
Starch* / chemistry
Zea mays*

Substances

Starch
succinic anhydride