A study of starch gelatinisation behaviour in hydrothermally-processed plant food tissues and implications for in vitro digestibility

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the plant food matrix in influencing the extent of starch gelatinisation during hydrothermal processing, and its implications for starch digestibility. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to provide a detailed examination of the gelatinisation behaviour of five distinct size fractions (diameters <0.21 to 2.58 mm) of milled chickpea and durum wheat. Gelatinisation parameters were obtained from the DSC thermograms and concomitant microscopy analyses were performed. The estimated terminal extent of gelatinisation (TEG) was compared with our previously published data for in vitro starch digestibility of the same food materials. We observed clear differences in the gelatinisation behaviour of matched size-fractions of chickpeas and durum wheat. In chickpea materials, the TEG values (34-100%) were inversely related to particle size, whereas in durum wheat, no size-dependent limitations on TEG were observed. The TEG values were completely consistent with the extent of starch amylolysis in all size fractions of both durum wheat and chickpea. Microstructural analysis following hydrothermal processing confirmed the presence of some partially gelatinised birefringent starch within intact chickpea cells. Birefringent starch granules were not present in any of the processed fractions of durum wheat. The differences in gelatinisation behaviour of these plant species seem to reflect the individual cell wall properties of these materials. These findings demonstrate the applicability of DSC to real food materials to provide insight into the mechanisms by which the food matrix (particularly the plant cell walls) influences gelatinisation, and consequently, starch amylolysis.

Physicochemical, functional properties, and digestion of isolated starches from pigmented chickpea (Cicer arietinumL.) cultivars

“…A broader range is indicative of heterogeneous crystallites with varying stability within the crystalline domains of the starch granule . The gelatinization enthalpies ranged from 8.82 to 10.68 J/g, which agree within values previously reported . Other authors have related the relative low enthalpy values of pulses with the molecular conformation and arrangement of their amylopectin structural arrangement, in particular with the double helices and to the presence of long and partially branched amylose molecules, that tends to decrease granular swelling and crystalline melting during gelatinization .…”

“…A broader range is indicative of heterogeneous crystallites with varying stability within the crystalline domains of the starch granule [16]. The gelatinization enthalpies ranged from 8.82 to 10.68 J/g, which agree within values previously reported [23,29].…”

Effect of semolina pudding prepared fromstarch branching enzyme IIaandbmutant wheat on glycaemic responsein vitroandin vivo: a randomised controlled pilot study

“…56 Particle size has previously been shown to have influenced starch gelatinisation, bioaccessibility and postprandial glycaemic responses to starch-based foods. 57 However, the differences in the size of the fractions used in previous studies were three orders of magnitude larger than the subtle 21 μm difference in the size between mutant sbeIIa/ b-AB and WT particles used in this study. In this case, particle size difference is unlikely to be a contributing mechanism to the difference in digestibility observed.…”

“…24 The lower RS concentration in this batch of sbeIIa/b-AB semolina may have resulted from the environmental effects during the growth of the wheat. 57 However, it does suggest that the RS concentration in the pudding alone administered in this pilot study may not be sufficient to elicit a lower glycaemic response compared to the WT control. While the use of wheat with a higher content of RS may have been preferable, the authors worked with the available material which was considered to be satisfactory to develop novel durum wheat foods and to explore its effect on glycaemic response.…”

Understanding the Relations Among the Storage, Soaking, and Cooking Behavior of Pulses: A Scientific Basis for Innovations in Sustainable Foods for the Future

“…Apart from the incorporation of flours and/or powders of pulses in food formulations, current research trends are on the nutraceutical functionalities of pulses (Chávez‐Mendoza & Sánchez, ; Díaz‐Sánchez, Guajardo‐Flores, Serna Guerrero, Gutierrez‐Uribe, & Jacobo‐Velázquez, ; Jamdar, Deshpande, & Marathe, ; Jing et al., ) as influenced by different processing methods (López‐Martínez, Leyva‐López, Gutiérrez‐Grijalva, & Heredia, ) or, more specifically, bioactivity of peptides and hydrolysates (Carbonaro, Maselli, & Nucara, ; Luna‐Vital et al., ) as well as hydrolyzability of the proteins and related physicochemical characteristics (Ghribi et al., ; Jamdar et al., ; Torres, Rutherfurd, Muñoz, Peters, & Montoya, ; Worku & Sahu, ). Other studies involve in vitro starch digestion (Bhattarai, Dhital, Wu, Chen, & Gidley, ; Dhital, Bhattarai, Gorham, & Gidley, ; Edwards et al., ; Ma, Wang, Wang, Jane, & Du, ; Pallares Pallares et al., ; Rovalino‐Córdova, Fogliano, & Capuano, ).…”