An NMR spectroscopic characterisation of the enzyme-resistant residue from α-amylolysis of an amylose gel

Structural heterogeneities in starch hydrogels

Hydrogels have a complex, heterogeneous structure and organisation, making them promising candidates for advanced structural and cosmetics applications. Starch is an attractive material for producing hydrogels due to its low cost and biocompatibility, but the structural dynamics of polymer chains within starch hydrogels are not well understood, limiting their development and utilisation. We employed a range of NMR methodologies (CPSP/MAS, HR-MAS, HPDEC and WPT-CP) to probe the molecular mobility and water dynamics within starch hydrogels featuring a wide range of physical properties. The insights from these methods were related to bulk rheological, thermal (DSC) and crystalline (PXRD) properties. We have reported for the first time the presence of highly dynamic starch chains, behaving as solvated moieties existing in the liquid component of hydrogel systems. We have correlated the chains' degree of structural mobility with macroscopic properties of the bulk systems, providing new insights into the structure-function relationships governing hydrogel assemblies.

Resistant starch in food: a review

The nutritional property of starch is related to its rate and extent of digestion and absorption in the small intestine. For nutritional purposes, starch is classified as rapidly available, slowly available and resistant starch (RS). The exact underlying mechanism of relative resistance of starch granules is complicated because those factors are often interconnected. The content of RS in food is highly influenced by food preparation manner and processing techniques. Physical or chemical treatments also alter the level of RS in a food. Commercial preparations of RS are now available and can be added to foods as an ingredient for lowering the calorific value and improving textural and organoleptic characteristics along with increasing the amount of dietary fiber. RS has assumed great importance owing to its unique functional properties and health benefits. The beneficial effects of RS include glycemic control and control of fasting plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels and absorption of minerals. This review attempts to analyze the information published, especially in the recent past, on classification, structure, properties, applications and health benefits of RS.

Characteristics of starch-based films plasticised by glycerol and by the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate: a comparative study

This paper reports the plasticisation effect of the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][OAc]), as compared with the traditionally used plasticiser, glycerol, on the characteristics of starch-based films. For minimising the additional effect of processing, a simple compression moulding process (which involves minimal shear) was used for preparation of starch-based films. The results show that [Emim][OAc] was favourable for plasticisation, i.e., disruption of starch granules (by scanning electron microscopy), and could result in a more amorphous structure in the starch-based materials (by X-ray diffraction and dynamic mechanical analysis). (13)C CP/MAS and SPE/MAS NMR spectroscopy revealed that not only was the crystallinity reduced by [Emim][OAc], but also the amorphous starch present was plasticised to a more mobile form as indicated by the appearance of amorphous starch in the SPE/MAS spectrum. Mechanical results illustrate that, when either glycerol or [Emim][OAc] was used, a higher plasticiser content could contribute to higher flexibility. In spite of the accelerated thermal degradation of starch by [Emim][OAc] as shown by thermogravimetric analysis, the biodegradation study revealed the antimicrobial effect of [Emim][OAc] on the starch-based materials. Considering the high-amylose starch used here which is typically difficult to gelatinise in a traditional plasticiser (water and/or glycerol), [Emim][OAc] is demonstrated to be a promising plasticiser for starch to develop "green" flexible antimicrobial materials for novel applications.

Use of (13)c MAS NMR to study domain structure and dynamics of polysaccharides in the native starch granules

To investigate the domain structure and dynamics of polysaccharides in the native starch granules, a variety of high resolution, solid-state (13)C NMR techniques have been applied to all three (A-, B-, and C-) types of starch with different water content. Both single-pulse-excitation magic-angle-spinning (SPEMAS) and cross-polarization-magic-angle-spinning (CPMAS) methods have been employed together with the PRISE (proton relaxation induced spectral-editing) techniques to distinguish polysaccharide fractions in different domains and having distinct dynamics. It has been found that, for all three types of dry starch granules, there are two sets of NMR signals corresponding to two distinct ordered polysaccharides. Hydration leads to substantial mobilization of the polysaccharides in the amorphous regions, but no fundamental changes in the rigidity of the polysaccharides in the crystalline (double) helices. Full hydration also leads to limited mobility changes to the polysaccharides in the amorphous lamellae (branching zone) within the amylopectin clusters and in the gaps between the arrays of the amylopectin clusters. Under magic-angle spinning, proton relaxation-time measurements showed a single component for T(1), two components for T(1rho), and three components for T(2). PRISE experiments permitted the neat separation of the (13)C resonances of polysaccharides in the crystalline lamellae from those in the amorphous lamellae and the amylose in the gaps between amylopectin clusters. It has been found that the long (1)H T(1rho) component ( approximately 30 ms) is associated with polysaccharides in the crystalline lamellae in the form of double helices, whereas the short T(1rho) component (2-4 ms) is associated with amylose in the gaps between amylopectin clusters. The short (1)H T(2) component ( approximately 14 micros) is associated with polysaccharides in the crystalline lamellae; the intermediate component (300-400 micros) is associated with polysaccharides in the amorphous lamellae and amylose in the gaps between amylopectin clusters. The long T(2) component is associated with both mobile starch protons and the residue water protons.

Effects of amylopectin structure and molecular weight on microstructural and rheological properties of mixed beta-lactoglobulin gels

Nongelling amylopectin fractions from potato and barley have been used to form mixed beta-lactoglobulin gels. The amylopectin fractions were produced by varying the time of alpha-amylase hydrolysis followed by sequential ethanol precipitation. The molecular weights, radius of gyration, chain length distribution, and viscosity of the fractions were established. The mixed gels were analyzed rheologically with dynamic mechanical analysis in shear and microstructurally with light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The result of the gel studies clearly showed that small differences in the molecular weight of amylopectins have a significant influence on the kinetics of protein aggregation and thereby on the gel microstructure and the rheological behavior of the gel. Both an increase in the molecular weight and a higher concentration of amylopectins resulted in a more open protein network structure, with thicker strands of larger and more close-packed beta-lactoglobulin clusters, which showed a larger storage modulus. The transmission electron micrographs revealed that degraded amylopectins were enclosed inside the protein clusters in the mixed gels, whereas nondegraded amylopectin was only found outside the protein clusters. The volume-weighted mean value of the molecular weight of the amylopectins was found to vary between 3.2 x 10(4) and 5.0 x 10(7) Da and the ratio of gyration between 14 and 61 nm. The maximum in chain length distribution was generally somewhat distributed toward longer chain lengths for potato compared to barley, but the differences in chain length distribution were minor compared to those seen in the molecular weight and ratio of gyration between the fractions.