Recent Advances in Modification Approaches, Health Benefits, and Food Applications of Resistant Starch

Improving functional and nutritional profiles of barley flours with diverse starch types through pearling

A comparative analysis of chemical, functional, and digestive parameters was conducted on five new barley genotypes designed for food purposes, differing in starch type, β-glucans, and arabinoxylan content. Both whole and pearled grain flours were examined. Amylose exhibited positive correlations with least gelation capacity (r = 0.60), gelation temperature (r = 0.90), and resistant starch (r = 0.80). Waxy varieties showed greater water-holding capacity, viscosity, and rapid digestibility compared to normal and high-amylose varieties. Pearling (10%) decreased arabinoxylans by 48% and proteins by 7%, while increasing β-glucans by 8% and starch by 13%. Additionally, pearling improved viscosity and hydration parameters across varieties. This allowed normal and high-amylose genotypes to enhance their functional properties and nutritional value through increased β-glucan and resistant starch content. This exploration advances the understanding of barley's functional attributes for food industry and underscores the potential of pearling to augment consumer nutritional value and health-promoting properties.

Impact of different organic acids on heat-moisture treated potato starch for enhancing prebiotic potential

This research verified the in vitro digestive properties of potato starch modified with citric acid (CA), malic acid (MA), and tartaric acid (TA), and evaluated its prebiotic potential. The resistant starch (RS) content in CA- or MA-modified starch was greater than that in native starch. Furthermore, after cooking, all modified starches exhibited an increase in RS content by 2.3 to 3.3 times compared to native starch, which has a 29.81% RS content, demonstrating high thermal stability. Probiotic bacteria demonstrated increased viability, raiging form 6.38-6.85 log CFU/mL, when cultured with modified starch, in contrast to 4.48 log CFU/mL with glucose. During animal testing, modified starches consistently improved gastrointestinal transit, fecal moisture, and lipid levels. Notably, CA-, MA- or TA-modified starches promoted beneficial bacteria growth by providing short-chain fatty acids, with CA-modified starch proving to be the most potent.

Cutting-edge progress in green technologies for resistant starch type 3 and type 5 preparation: An updated review

Resistant starch (RS) is a dietary fiber that resists starch hydrolysis in the small intestine, and is fermented in the colon by microorganisms. RS not only has a broad range of benefits in the food and non-food industries but also has a significance impact on health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases. RS types 3 and 5 have been the focus of research from an environment-friendly perspective. RS3 is normally formed by recrystallization after physical modification, whereas RS5 is obtained by the complexation of starch and fatty acids through the thermomechanical methods. This review provides updates and approaches to RS3 and RS5 preparations that promote RS content based on green technologies. This information will be useful for future research on RS development and for identifying preparation methods for functional food.

Recent Advances in Physical Processing Techniques to Enhance the Resistant Starch Content in Foods: A Review

The physical modification of starch to produce resistant starch (RS) is a viable strategy for the glycemic index (GI) lowering of foods and functionality improvement in starchy food products. RS cannot be digested in the small intestine but can be fermented in the colon to produce short-chain fatty acids rather than being broken down by human digestive enzymes into glucose. This provides major health advantages, like better blood sugar regulation, weight control, and a lower chance of chronic illnesses. This article provides a concise review of the recent developments in physical starch modification techniques, including annealing, extrusion, high-pressure processing, radiation, and heat-moisture treatment. Specifically, the focus of this paper is on the alteration of the crystalline structure of starch caused by the heat-moisture treatment and annealing and its impact on the resistance of starch to enzymatic hydrolysis, as well as the granular structure and molecular arrangement of starch caused by extrusion and high-pressure processing, and the depolymerization and crosslinking that results from radiation. The impacts of these alterations on starch's textural qualities, stability, and shelf life are also examined. This review demonstrates how physically modified resistant starch can be used as a flexible food ingredient with both functional and health benefits. These methods are economically and ecologically sustainable since they successfully raise the RS content and improve its functional characteristics without the need for chemical reagents. The thorough analysis of these methods and how they affect the structural characteristics and health advantages of RS emphasizes the material's potential as an essential component in the creation of functional foods that satisfy contemporary dietary and health requirements.

Synergistic modification of hot-melt extrusion and nobiletin on the multi-scale structures, interactions, thermal properties, and in vitro digestibility of rice starch

Background

Rice starch has high digestibility due to its large carbohydrate content. Synergistic modification of hot-melt extrusion (HME) and additives such as flavonoids, hydrocolloids, proteins, lipids, and other additives has the tendency to retard the rate of starch hydrolysis. Hence, the current investigation aimed to study the combined effect of the HME-assisted addition of nobiletin (NOB, 0, 2, 4, and 6%) on the multi-scale structures, interactions, thermal, and digestibility characteristics of rice starch.

Methods

The study employed density functional theory calculations and an infrared second derivative of an Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to analyze the interactions between NOB and starch. The physicochemical properties of the starch extrudates were characterized by FTIR, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry, while the digestibility was evaluated using an in vitro digestion model.

Results

HME was found to disrupt the crystalline structure, helix structure, short-ordered structure, and thermal properties of starch. The interaction between NOB and starch involved hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds, effectively preventing the molecular chains of starch from interacting with each other and disrupting their double helix structure. The addition of NOB led to the formation of a highly single-helical V-type crystalline structure, along with the formation of ordered structural domains. Consequently, the combined treatment significantly enhanced the ordered structure and thermal stability of starch, thus effectively leading to an increase in resistant starch and slowly digestion starch.

Discussion

The study underscores that synergistic modification of HME and NOB holds promise for enhancing both the nutritional value and functional properties of rice starch. These findings offer valuable insights for developing high-quality rice starch products with broader applications.

Impact of Esterification with Octenyl Succinic Anhydride on the Structural Characteristics and Glucose Response in Mice of Wheat Starch

In this study, we investigated the structural properties and digestibility of wheat starch treated with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA). For the experiment, the samples were reacted with 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% OSA (pH 8.5-9.0) for 2 h. A light micrograph showed that there was no difference in the morphology and Maltese cross between native and OSA-treated starch. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the native and OSA-treated starches showed typical A-type diffraction. In addition, the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum showed a distinct carbonyl peak at approximately 1730 cm-1, indicating the stretching vibration of the C=O bond of the ester group. The degree of substitution (DS) and content of resistant starch (RS) increased with increasing concentrations of treated OSA because of the increase in ester bonds. In particular, RS was thermostable compared to the RS content in uncooked and cooked starch. Blood glucose levels and response in vivo decreased as the OSA concentration increased. Treatment of wheat starch with 8% OSA concentration produced 35.6% heat-stable resistant starch. These results suggest that starch modified with OSA can be used to produce functional foods for diabetes.

Carbohydrate Repartitioning in the Rice Starch Branching Enzyme IIb Mutant Stimulates Higher Resistant Starch Content and Lower Seed Weight Revealed by Multiomics Analysis

The starch branching enzyme IIb mutant (be2b) in rice significantly increases the resistant starch (RS) content and leads to reduced seed weight. However, the underlying metabolic mechanisms remain unclear. Proteomic analysis indicated that upregulation of starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) and SSIIIa and downregulation of BEI and SSI were possibly responsible for the decreased short amylopectin chains (DP 6-15) and increased longer chains (DP > 16) of be2b starch. The upregulation of granule-bound starch synthase led to increased amylose content (AC). These changes in the amylopectin structure and AC accounted for the increased RS content. α-Amylase 2A showed the strongest upregulation (up to 8.45-fold), indicating that the loss of BEIIb activity enhanced starch degradation. Upregulation of glycolysis-related proteins stimulated carbohydrate repartitioning through glycerate-3-phosphate and promoted the accumulation of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, amino acids, and fatty acids. The unexpected carbohydrate partitioning and enhanced starch degradation resulted in the reduced seed weight in the be2b mutant.