Investigation on molecular and morphology changes of protein and starch in rice kernel during cooking

Oleic acid treatment of rice grains reduces the starch digestibility: Formation, binding state and fine structure of starch-lipid complexes

Rice contains abundant starch and contributes to a rapid rise in postprandial blood glucose levels. Hence, it is crucial to directly modify rice grains for resistant starch (RS) content elevation while preserving their morphology. In this study, rice grains were treated with 6%-18% concentrations of oleic acid (OA) and 8-20 h of soaking time to promote the formation of starch-lipid complexes, thereby reducing rice digestibility. In OA-treated rice, the OA molecules exist in three binding states. OA-treated rice exhibited a significantly higher complexation index and OA content than natural rice. RS content increased from 20.50% to 32.46%. X-ray diffraction and NMR spectroscopy revealed the development of amylose-OA complexes within the rice grains and a V-crystalline structure of up to 3.62%. Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis showed enhanced molecular ordering and structural stability of rice starch. Overall, OA treatment effectively promotes RS formation within rice grains, consequently reducing rice digestibility.

Impact of rice variety, cooking equipment and pretreatment method on the quality of lightly milled rice

Lightly milled rice is a healthier choice compared to refined white rice. In this study, the effects of variety, cooking equipment and pretreatment method on the quality of six varieties of lightly milled rice from China after cooking was investigated through physics, chemistry and instrumental analysis method. Nanjing-No.5055 has the best eating quality, Xiadao-No.1 has higher appearance score, and Fengliangyouxiang-No.1 has the lowest glycemic index. Compared with microwave oven and electric cooker, steamer has a more significant positive impact on component retention, eating quality and sensory quality, but the former has lower cooking time and higher glycemic index. Soaking can effectively improve the water absorption rate, thus reducing hardness. Cleaning affects component retention but is beneficial for sensory quality. The most obvious variation in organizational structure can be observed in the steamer and soaking processes. These findings could serve as a valuable reference for the processing of lightly milled rice.

Heat treatment improves the dispersion stability of rice bran milk through changing the settling behavior

Poor dispersion stability of nutritious rice bran milk limits its production. In this study, the dispersion stability of rice bran milk after heating at 95 °C for 0-5 min was investigated. Visual observation revealed improved dispersion stability and changes in settling behavior with heat durations. After heating for 5 min, the serum turbidity increased from 1.86 to 2.95. The centrifugal sedimentation rate unexpectedly rose from 9.25% to 29.18%, indicating an increase in volumetric particle concentration. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that heating induced starch gelatinization and protein denaturation in rice bran milk, leading to increased volumetric particle concentration. Rice bran protein aggregates after heating were developed and embedded in the gel-like network composed of swollen starch granules. These results suggested that rice bran milk, due to thermal-induced alteration in biomacromolecules, may behave progressively from free settling to hindered settling to compression settling, resulting in improved dispersion stability.

Effect of Different Fertilizer Types on Quality of Foxtail Millet under Low Nitrogen Conditions

In order to clarify the effect of different fertilizers on foxtail millet quality under low nitrogen conditions, we used JGNo.21 and LZGNo.2 as experimental materials and set up five treatments, including non-fertilization, nitrogen, phosphorus, compound, and organic fertilizers, to study the regulation of different fertilizer types on agronomic traits, nutrient fractions, and pasting characteristics of foxtail millet under low nitrogen conditions. Compared with the control, all of the fertilizers improved the agronomic traits of JGNo.21 to a certain extent. Nitrogen and compound fertilizer treatments reduced the starch content of JGNo.21; the starch content was reduced by 0.55% and 0.07% under nitrogen and compound fertilizers treatments. Phosphorus and organic fertilizers increased starch content, and starch content increased by 0.50% and 0.56% under phosphorus and organic fertilizer treatments. The effect of each fertilizer treatment on protein content was completely opposite to that of starch; different fertilizer treatments reduced the fat content of JGNo.21 and increased the fiber content. Among them, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers increased the yellow pigment content; the yellow pigment content increased by 1.21% and 2.64% under nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer treatments. Organic and compound fertilizers reduced the content of yellow pigment; the yellow pigment content was reduced by 3.36% and 2.79% under organic and compound fertilizer treatments. Nitrogen and organic fertilizers increased the fat content of LZGNo.2; the fat content increased by 2.62% and 1.98% under nitrogen, organic fertilizer treatment. Compound and phosphorus fertilizer decreased the fat content; the fat content decreased by 2.16% and 2.90% under compound and phosphorus fertilizer treatment. Different fertilizer treatments reduced the cellulose and yellow pigment content of LZGNo.2. The content of essential, non-essential, and total amino acids of JGNo.21 was increased under compound and nitrogen fertilizer treatments and decreased under organic and phosphorus fertilizer treatments. The content of essential, non-essential, and total amino acids of LZGNo.2 was significantly higher under compound, nitrogen, and organic fertilizer treatments compared with control and significantly decreased under phosphorus fertilizer treatments. Nitrogen and compound fertilizer treatments significantly reduced the values of peak viscosity, trough viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final viscosity, setback viscosity, and pasting time of each index of JGNo.21; phosphorus and organic fertilizer treatments improved the values of each index. In contrast, the pasting viscosity of LZGNo.2 increased under phosphorus fertilizer treatment and decreased under nitrogen fertilizer treatment. Reasonable fertilization can improve the quality of foxtail millet, which provides a scientific theoretical basis for improving the quality of foxtail millet.

Effects of protein morphological structures on the cereal processing, sensorial property and starch digestion: a review

In cereals, the protein body and protein matrix are usually two morphological protein structures. However, processing treatments can affect protein structures, change protein bodies into the matrix, or induce a change in the matrix structure; therefore, the processing-induced matrix was listed as the third morphological structure of the protein. Previous research on the effect of proteins was mainly based on protein content and composition, but these studies arrived at different conclusions. Studying the effect of protein morphological structures on sensorial property and starch digestion can provide a theoretical basis for selecting cultivars with high sensorial property and help produce low-glycemic index foods for people with diabetes, controlling their postprandial blood sugar. This study aimed to review the distribution and structure of protein bodies, protein matrices, and processing-induced matrices, as well as their influence on cereal sensorial property and starch digestion. Therefore, we determined the protein morphological structures in different cereal cultivars and summarized its impact. Protein bodies mainly have steric stabilization effects on starch gelatinization, whereas the protein matrix serves as a physical barrier surrounding the starch to inhibit water absorption and α-amylase. Processing can change protein morphological structures, enabling protein bodies to act as a physical matrix barrier.

Relation between textural attributes and surface leachate structural and compositional characteristics of cooked rice

The objective of this study was to evaluate the leachate and textural characteristics of cooked rice, and the correlations between the leachate properties and texture attributes were also investigated. Cooked waxy rice had much higher total solids and amylopectin amount in leachate than the normal and high-amylose rice. For all varieties, the amylopectin chain length of the leachate was similar, excluding Dodam cultivar. The rheological characteristics of the leachate solutions were highly dependent on the amylopectin amount of the leachate. Regarding the textural characteristics, Dodam had the highest hardness and the lowest adhesiveness. The principal component analysis showed substantial differences in leachate and textural characteristics of Korean cooked rice according to its amylose content. The adhesiveness was positively and negatively correlated with amylopectin amount of leachate and the proportion of long amylopectin chains, respectively. These results indicated that the leachate characteristics of cooked rice significantly influenced its textural attributes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-023-01446-3.

Effect of endogenous protein and lipid removal on the physicochemical and digestion properties of sand rice (Agriophyllum squarrosum) flour

The study investigated the effect of removing protein and/or lipid on the physicochemical characteristics and digestibility of sand rice flour (SRF). Morphological images showed that protein removal had a greater impact on exposing starch granules, while lipids acted as an adhesive. The treatment altered starch content in SRF samples, leading to increased starch crystallinity, denser semi-crystalline region, lower onset gelatinization temperature (To), higher peak viscosity and gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH), where Protein removal showed a more pronounced effect on altering physicochemical properties compared to lipid removal. The research revealed a positive correlation between rapidly digestible starch (RDS), maximum degree of starch hydrolysis (C∞), digestion rate constant (k) values and 1047/1022 cm-1 ratio, showing a strong connection between short-range structure and starch digestibility. The presence of endogenous proteins and lipids in SRF hinder digestion by restricting starch swelling and gelatinization, and physically obstructing enzyme-starch interaction. Lipids had a greater impact on starch digestibility than proteins, possibly due to their higher efficacy in reducing digestibility, higher lipid content with greater potential to form starch-lipid complexes. This study provides valuable insights into the interaction between starch and proteins/lipids in the sand rice seed matrix, enhancing its applicability in functional and nutritional food products.

Effect of starch and protein on eating quality of japonica rice in Yangtze River Delta

This study examined four types of japonica rice from Yangtze River Delta, categorized based on amylose content (AC) and protein content (PC): high AC with high PC, high AC with low PC, low AC with high PC, and low AC with low PC. It systematically explored the effect of starch, protein and their interactions on eating quality of japonica rice. Rheological analysis revealed that increased amylose, long chains amylopectin or protein levels during cooking strengthen starch-protein interactions (hydrogen bonding), forming a firm gel network. Scanning electron microscopy showed that increased amylose, long chains amylopectin or protein levels made protein and starch more stable in combination during cooking, limiting starch structure cleavage. Therefore, the eating quality of high AC in similar PC japonica rice and high PC in similar AC japonica rice were poor. Further, correlation and random-forest analysis (RFA) identified amylose as the most influential factor in starch-protein interactions affecting rice eating quality, followed by amylopectin and protein. RFA also revealed that in high AC japonica rice, the interactions of Fb3 and albumin with amylose were more conducive to forming good eating quality. In low AC japonica rice, the interactions of Fb2 and prolamin with amylose were more beneficial.

Effects of distribution, structure and interactions of starch, protein and cell walls on textural formation of cooked rice: A review

The constitution and forms of rice determine its processing and cooking properties and further control the cooked rice quality. As the two main components, starch and protein content correlations and their characteristics have been extensively explored. However, rice is mainly consumed as polished kernels, components distribution, cytoplasmic matrix, and cell walls work together, and the properties of extracted components or flour are difficult to reflect the quality of cooked rice accurately. Thus, this review summarizes the multi-scale structure changes of main components during real rice cooking conditions. The dynamic thermal changes and leaching behaviors in rice kernels are compared with pure starch or rice flour. The in situ changes and interactions of starch granules, protein bodies, and cell walls during cooking are reviewed. Based on this, different textural evaluation methods are compared, and the advantages and disadvantages are pointed out. The oral chewing perception and bionic chewing simulation for textual evaluation have gradually become hot. Both rice quality controllers and eating quality evaluators attempt to establish an accurate quality evaluation system with the increased demand for high-quality rice.

Effects of Tremella fuciformis Mushroom Polysaccharides on Structure, Pasting, and Thermal Properties of Chinese Chestnuts (Castanea henryi) Starch Granules under Different Freeze-Thaw Cycles

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides on the physicochemical properties of freeze-thawed cone chestnut starch. Various aspects, including water content, crystallinity, particle size, gelatinization, retrogradation, thermal properties, rheological properties, and texture, were examined. The results revealed that moderate freezing and thawing processes increased the retrogradation of starch; particle size, viscosity, shear type, hinning degree, and hardness decreased. After adding Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide, the particle size, relative crystallinity, and gelatinization temperature decreased, which showed solid characteristics. Consequently, the inclusion of Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide effectively countered dehydration caused by freezing and thawing, reduced viscosity, and prevented the retrogradation of frozen-thawed chestnut starch. Moreover, Tremella fuciformis polysaccharide played a significant role in enhancing the stability of the frozen-thawed chestnut starch. These findings highlight the potential benefits of incorporating Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides in starch-based products subjected to freeze-thaw cycles.

Effect of protein on the gelatinization behavior and digestibility of corn flour with different amylose contents

The effects of endogenous proteins on the gelatinization behavior and digestibility of waxy corn flour (WCF), normal corn flour (NCF) and high amylose corn flour (HCF) were systematically investigated. Microscopic characteristics showed that the proteins surrounded multiple starch granules, which led to an increase in the particle size of the corn flour, but no significant change in the relative crystallinity. Small angle x-ray scattering experiments during pasting revealed that the starch granules of NCF remained compact, while WCF and HCF were relatively loose. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C NMR) showed that the proteins retained the helical structure of starch allowing NCF to have a higher Resistant starch(RS) content. The presence of protein led to a decrease in swelling power, viscosity, and in vitro digestibility of starch, and a noticeable increase in gelatinization temperature and thermal stability. RS increased most significantly in NCF from 3.86 % to 15.27 %. The effect of protein on the water activity of starch with different amylose contents after pasting was also inconsistent. This study will contribute to the understanding of the interaction between starch and protein in corn flours with different amylose contents and contribute to the development of corn flours.

Multiple regulators were involved in glutelin synthesis and subunit accumulation in response to temperature and nitrogen during rice grain-filling stage

Rice glutelin is sensitive to temperature and nitrogen, however, the regulatory mechanism of glutelin response to temperature and nitrogen is unclear. In this study, we conducted the open field warming experiment by the Free-air temperature enhancement facility and application of nitrogen during grain filling. In three-year field warming experiments, glutelin relative content was significantly increased under elevated temperature and application of nitrogen. Temperature and nitrogen and their interaction increased the glutelin accumulation rate in the early and middle grain filling stages (10-25d after flowering), but decreased the glutelin accumulation rate in the middle and late grain filling stages (25-45d after flowering). Elevated temperature promoted pro-glutelin levels whereas application of nitrogen under warming increased the amount of α-glutelin. At the transcriptional level, the expression levels of the glutelin-encoding genes and protein disulphide isomerase-like enzyme (PDIL1-1), glutelin precursor accumulation 4 (GPA4), glutelin precursor mutant 6 (GPA2), glutelin precursor accumulation 3 (GPA3) and vacuolar processing enzyme (OsVPE1) of glutelin folding, transport and accumulation-related genes were up-regulated by nitrogen under natural temperature as early as 5d after flowering. However, elevated temperature up-regulated glutelin-encoding genes before 20d after flowering, and the expression of endoplasmic reticulum chaperone (OsBip1), OsPDIL1-1, small GTPase gene (GPA1), GPA2-GPA4 and OsVPE1 were significantly increased post 20d after flowering under warming. In addition, the increase in glutelin content worsened grain quality, particularly chalkiness and eating quality. Overall, the results were helpful to understand glutelin accumulation and provide a theoretical basis for further study the relationship between rice quality and glutelin under global warming.

Impacts of Inherent Components and Nitrogen Fertilizer on Eating and Cooking Quality of Rice: A Review

With the continuous improvement of living standards, the preferences of consumers are shifting to rice varieties with high eating and cooking quality (ECQ). Milled rice is mainly composed of starch, protein, and oil, which constitute the physicochemical basis of rice taste quality. This review summarizes the relationship between rice ECQ and its intrinsic ingredients, and also briefly introduces the effects of nitrogen fertilizer management on rice ECQ. Rice varieties with higher AC usually have more long branches of amylopectin, which leach less when cooking, leading to higher hardness, lower stickinesss, and less panelist preference. High PC impedes starch pasting, and it may be hard for heat and moisture to enter the rice interior, ultimately resulting in worse rice eating quality. Rice with higher lipid content had a brighter luster and better eating quality, and starch lipids in rice have a greater impact on rice eating quality than non-starch lipids. The application of nitrogen fertilizer can enhance rice yield, but it also decreases the ECQ of rice. CRNF has been widely used in cereal crops such as maize, wheat, and rice as a novel, environmentally friendly, and effective fertilizer, and could increase rice quality to a certain extent compared with conventional urea. This review shows a benefit to finding more reasonable nitrogen fertilizer management that can be used to regulate the physical and chemical indicators of rice grains in production and to improve the taste quality of rice without affecting yield.

Revealing the reasons for the pasting property changes of rice during aging from the perspective of starch granule disaggregation

BACKGROUND

The pasting properties of rice change markedly after aging, although the mechanism for this still remains unknown. Aged and fresh rice grains were ground and the flours were fractionated by particle size, and then the pasting properties, particle size distribution and microscopic morphology of the heated flour fractions were evaluated.

RESULTS

Compared to the corresponding fresh flour fractions with the same particle size, a lower peak viscosity for those aged flour fractions from 80 μm to 450 μm and a higher peak viscosity for those aged flour fractions from 20 μm to 60 μm were observed. The amounts of smaller particles disaggregated from the aged flour fractions were significantly less and the separated entities were always larger than the corresponding fresh rice fractions.

CONCLUSION

Disaggregation difficulty of starch granules was the reason for the changes in the pasting properties of rice after aging. This finding is helpful for understanding rice aging mechanisms and regulating eating quality of rice flour as an ingredient. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Influence of accelerating storage of foxtail millet on the edible and cooking quality of its porridge: An insight into the structural alteration of the in-situ protein and starch and physicochemical properties

This study aimed to elucidate the effect of the accelerating storage (40 °C, 10 weeks) of foxtail millet on the edible and cooking quality of its porridge. The structural alteration of the in-situ protein and starch in foxtail millet, as well as the physicochemical properties were investigated. Both the homogeneity and palatability of millet porridge were significantly improved after 8-week storage of millet, while its proximate compositions remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the accelerating storage increased the water absorption and swelling of millet by 20 % and 22 %, respectively. The morphological studies (using the SEM, CLSM and TEM) revealed that the starch granules in the stored millet became easier to swell and melt, leading to better gelatinization with a higher coverage extension in protein bodies. FTIR results showed that the protein hydrogen bonds in the stored millet became stronger and the starch ordered degree was reduced. Compared to the native foxtail millet, the peak, trough, final, and setback viscosity of the stored sample increased by 27 %, 76 %, 115 % and 143 %, respectively, while the onset, peak, and conclusion temperature increased by 0.80, 1.10 and 0.80 °C, respectively. Besides, the G' and G″ of the stored foxtail millet were significantly higher than its native counterpart.

Different nitrogen fertilizer application in the field affects the morphology and structure of protein and starch in rice during cooking

Nitrogen fertilization is one of the most important cultivation practices that affects the eating quality of rice. During the cooking process, nitrogen fertilizer application in the field changed the structure of protein and starch during cooking, which eventually reduced the rice eating quality. However, the morphology and structure of rice during cooking under high nitrogen fertilizer application in the field have not been explored. The relationship between the morphological and structural changes of rice protein and starch during cooking and the rice eating quality has not been studied. In this study, we conducted field trials at two nitrogen fertilizer levels (0 N and 350 N), and the rice was cooked after harvest. Our results showed that the peak viscosity of rice flour was 3326 cp and 2453 cp at 0 N and 350 N, respectively, and the peak viscosity of rice starch was 3424 cp and 3378 cp, respectively. Rice proteins played an important role in the starch gelatinization properties and thermodynamic properties. High nitrogen fertilizer application increased the protein content of rice from 5.97 % to 11.32 %, and more protein bodies adhered to the surface of amyloplasts eventually inhibiting starch gelatinization. The rice proteins could bind to amylose-lipid complexes during cooking, promoting the formation of V-type diffraction peaks. What is more, under high nitrogen fertilizer, rice protein had more β-sheets, which slowed the entry of water into the interior of starch molecules and prevented the destruction of the short-range ordered structure of starch. Our study provides the possibility to further improve the eating quality of rice under nitrogen fertilizer treatment.

Ultrasonication effects on physicochemical properties of starch-lipid complex

The starch-lipid complex between the pea starch (PSt) and glycerol monolaurate (GM) was prepared using ultrasound with different amplitudes, durations and application sequences. Fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra showed the formation of amylose-lipid complex between PSt and GM in the ultrasonic field. Stronger diffraction intensities were observed in samples treated by ultrasonication, whereas the thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the thermal stability of starch was improved by the formation of the V-type inclusion complexes. An ultrasound pre-treatment prior to the addition of a guest molecule (UC) was more favorable to induce the formation of an amylose-lipid complexes than ultrasound treatment after PSt was incorporated with GM (CU). The UC-treated samples showed stronger diffraction intensities, higher melting enthalpy values and enzyme-resistant than that of CU-treated PSt-GM complexes.

Understanding the Palatability, Flavor, Starch Functional Properties and Storability of Indica-Japonica Hybrid Rice

The rice quality and starch functional properties, as well as the storability of three YY-IJHR cultivars, which included YY12 (biased japonica type YY-IJHR), YY1540 (intermedius type YY-IJHR) and YY15 (biased indica type YY-IJHR), were studied and compared to N84 (conventional japonica rice). The study results suggested that the three YY-IJHR varieties all had greater cooking and eating quality than N84, as they had lower amylose and protein content. The starch of YY-IJHR has a higher pasting viscosity and digestibility, and there was a significant difference among the three YY-IJHR cultivars. Rice aroma components were revealed by GC-IMS, which indicated that the content of alcohols vola-tile components of YY-IJHR were generally lower, whereas the content of some aldehydes and esters were higher than N84. In addition, YY-IJHR cultivars’ FFA and MDA contents were lower, which demonstrated that YY-IJHR had a higher palatability and storability than those of N84 in fresh rice and rice stored for 12 months. In conclusion, this study suggested that YY-IJHR had better rice quality and storability than N84. PCA indicated that the grain quality and storability of YY12 and YY15 were similar and performed better than YY1540, while the aroma components and starch functional properties of YY-IJHR cultivars all had significant differences.

Extreme Low-Temperature Stress Affects Nutritional Quality of Amino Acids in Rice

Global climate change has increased the frequency of extreme climate events, and their effects on the nutritional quality, especially on amino acids in rice, have not been quantified. The data from a 3-year low temperature stress (LTS) experiment including two rice varieties (Huaidao 5 and Nanjing 46), seven minimum/maximum temperature levels (one optimal 21/27°C and six LTS levels from 17/23 to 6/12°C), and three LTS durations (3, 6, and 9 days) after flowering, revealed significant interactive effects of LTS at different stages, durations, and temperature levels on the content and accumulation of amino acids. LTS increased rice total amino acid content, while decreasing its accumulation, with higher sensitivities to LTS at the flowering stage than at the grain filling stage. In most treatments, the lysine (the first limiting amino acid) and phenylalanine content were increased under LTS at early and peak flowering stages but decreased at the grain filling stage in both varieties, and only leucine content was increased at all three stages after flowering, while the content of other essential amino acids differed among the two varieties. With an increase of 1°C·d per day in the accumulated cold degree days, the relative content of the essential amino acids was increased by 0.01-0.41%, depending on the rice variety and growth stage. Our results suggest that LTS can improve nutritional quality of amino acids of rice grains in terms of amino acids content, especially at flowering stage. These results provide critical insights for assessing the potential impact of extreme climates on the nutrient quality of rice under future climate change.

Dissecting of the Deterioration in Eating Quality for Erect Panicle (Ep) Type High Yield Japonica Super Rice in Northest China

Ep type is an important morphological improvement (following dwarf breeding and ideal plant type) that has contributed to breeding super-high yielding, and shows a pleiotropic effect in increasing grain yield and also nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) in rice. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether Ep has adverse effects on eating quality and how it affects nitrogen uptake and assimilation. In this study, we developed a pair of near-isogenic lines (NILs) for panicle type (NIL-Ep, NIL-non Ep) in the Liaogeng 5 (LG5) and Akihikari (AKI) backgrounds. Rice plants of the NIL-Ep had higher grain numbers per panicle in the middle to bottom spike positions than plants of the NIL-non Ep. The increased grain number is not only is the key factor leading to increased yield but also is the reason for reduced the eating quality. The content of prolamin and glutelin was significantly higher in NIL-Ep, which resulted in higher hardness and worse viscosity of rice after cooking. In addition, the activity of several essential enzymes catalyzing nitrogen metabolism was higher in the NIL-Ep line grains than in the NIL-non Ep, especially from the mid to late grain filling stage. Based on these results, we conclude that Ep positively regulates grain protein accumulation, primarily through enhancing the activity of enzymes involved in nitrogen assimilation and redistribution during the mid to late grain-filling stage, resulting in excessive accumulation of grain protein and decreased eating quality.

Effect of moist and dry-heat treatment processes on the structure, physicochemical properties, and in vitro digestibility of wheat starch-lauric acid complexes

Herein, we investigated the impact of moist (steaming and boiling) and dry (baking and microwaving)-heat treatment processes on the structure and physicochemical properties of wheat starch (WS) supplemented with lauric acid (LA). Elemental composition analysis revealed the interplay between WS and LA. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and iodine staining revealed that lamellar crystalline structure of WS-LA complexes was improved after moist-heat treatment (relative to samples without any heat treatments); the finding which is at variance to dry-heat treatment process. Additionally, high resistance to thermal decomposition and a lower 1022/995 cm^-1 absorbance ratio were observed in moist-heat treated WS-LA compared with dry-heat samples. Moreover, the V-type diffraction peak intensity and resistance to in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis of samples treated with moist-heat were increased to a greater extent than the dry-heat treated counterparts. In sum, this study would facilitate the application of functional starch-lipid complexes in food necessitated heat treatments.