Starch as a potential fat replacer for application in cheese: Behaviour of different starches in casein/starch mixtures and in the casein matrix

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.

Effects of hydrocolloids and oleogel on techno-functional properties of dairy foods

This paper aims to overview the influence of different gels that including hydrocolloids and oleogel on techno-functional changes of dairy foods. The hydrocolloids are widely added to dairy products as stabilizers, emulsifiers, and gelling agents to enhance their texture, or improve sensory properties to meet consumer needs; and the newly developed oleogel, which despite less discussed in dairy foods, this article lists its application in different dairy products. The properties of different hydrocolloids were explained in detail, meanwhile, some common hydrocolloids such as pectin, sodium alginate, carrageenan along with the interaction between gel and proteins on techno-functional properties of dairy products were mainly discussed. What's more, the composition of oleogel and its influence on dairy foods were briefly summarized. The key issues have been revealed that the use of both hydrocolloids and oleogel has great potential to be the future trend to improve the quality of dairy foods effectively.

Food gels: principles, interaction mechanisms and its microstructure

Food hydrogels are important materials having great scientific interest due to biocompatibility, safety and environment-friendly characteristics. In the food industry, hydrogels are widely used due to their three-dimensional crosslinked networks. Furthermore, they have attracted great attention due to their wide range of applications in the food industry, such as fat replacers, encapsulating agents, target delivery vehicles, and many more. In addition to basic and recent knowledge on food hydrogels, this review exclusively focuses on sensorial perceptions, nutritional significance, body interactions, network structures, mechanical properties, and potential hydrogel applications in food and food-based matrices. Additionally, this review highlights the structural design of hydrogels, which provide the forward-looking idea for future applications of food hydrogels (e.g., 3D or 4D printing).

Effect of protein-starch interactions on starch retrogradation and implications for food product quality

Starch retrogradation is a consequential part of food processing that greatly impacts the texture and acceptability of products containing both starch and proteins, but the effect of proteins on starch retrogradation has only recently been explored. With the increased popularity of plant-based proteins in recent years, incorporation of proteins into starch-based products is more commonplace. These formulation changes may have unforeseen effects on ingredient functionality and sensory outcomes of starch-containing products during storage, which makes the investigation of protein-starch interactions and subsequent impact on starch retrogradation and product quality essential. Protein can inhibit or promote starch retrogradation based on its exposed residues. Charged residues promote charge-dipole interactions between starch-bound phosphate and protein, hydrophobic groups restrict amylose release and reassociation, while hydrophilic groups impact water/molecular mobility. Covalent bonds (disulfide linkages) formed between proteins may enhance starch retrogradation, while glycosidic bonds formed between starch and protein during high-temperature processing may limit starch retrogradation. With these protein-starch interactions in mind, products can be formulated with proteins that enhance or delay textural changes in starch-containing products. Future work to understand the impact of starch-protein interactions on retrogradation should focus on integrating the fields of proteomics and carbohydrate chemistry. This interdisciplinary approach should result in better methods to characterize mechanisms of interaction between starch and proteins to optimize their food applications. This review provides useful interpretations of current literature characterizing the mechanistic effect of protein on starch retrogradation.

A Comprehensive Review of Food Hydrogels: Principles, Formation Mechanisms, Microstructure, and Its Applications

Food hydrogels are effective materials of great interest to scientists because they are safe and beneficial to the environment. Hydrogels are widely used in the food industry due to their three-dimensional crosslinked networks. They have also attracted a considerable amount of attention because they can be used in many different ways in the food industry, for example, as fat replacers, target delivery vehicles, encapsulating agents, etc. Gels-particularly proteins and polysaccharides-have attracted the attention of food scientists due to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, nutritional properties, and edibility. Thus, this review is focused on the nutritional importance, microstructure, mechanical characteristics, and food hydrogel applications of gels. This review also focuses on the structural configuration of hydrogels, which implies future potential applications in the food industry. The findings of this review confirm the application of different plant- and animal-based polysaccharide and protein sources as gelling agents. Gel network structure is improved by incorporating polysaccharides for encapsulation of bioactive compounds. Different hydrogel-based formulations are widely used for the encapsulation of bioactive compounds, food texture perception, risk monitoring, and food packaging applications.

Quinoa flour as a skim milk powder replacer in concentrated yogurts: Effect on their physicochemical, technological, and sensory properties

Milk standardization with solids (i.e., nonfat milk solids, MSNF) for yogurt manufacture is traditionally achieved by the addition of skim milk powder (SMP). However, the addition of SMP to milk‐based yogurt increases lactose content and decreases both protein content and gel firmness. Thus, in this work, quinoa flour (QF; 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% w/w) was used to replace SMP in concentrated yogurt. The physicochemical, textural, and sensory properties and microstructure of the yogurt were evaluated during cold storage. Generally, protein content, water‐holding capacity, and L* value decreased, while syneresis, textural attributes, and viscosity increased with increasing QF content. The substitution of high levels of QF (>25%, w/w) for SMP led to significantly shorter fermentation times, as compared to the control sample. The scanning electron microscopy observations showed significant changes in the yogurt microstructure as a consequence of QF replacement. Samples with 25% (w/w) substitution of QF and control had the highest scores in overall acceptance. According to the results, QF could be applied as an interesting raw material for concentrating the milk‐based yogurt at substitution level of 25% (w/w).

Starch granule size: Does it matter?

Nature has developed starch granules varying in size from less than 1 μm to more than 100 μm. The granule size is an important factor affecting the functional properties and the applicability of starch for food and non-food applications. Within the same botanical species, the range of starch granule size can be up to sevenfold. This review critically evaluated the biological and environmental factors affecting the size of starch granules, the methods for the separation of starch granules and the measurement of size distribution. Further, the structure at different length scales and properties of starch-based on the granule size is elucidated by specifying the typical applications of granules with varying sizes. An amylopectin cluster model showing the arrangement of amylopectin from inside toward the granule surface is proposed with the hypothesis that the steric hindrance for the growth of lamellar structure may limit the size of starch granules.

Thermosonicated whey protein concentrate blends on quality attributes of reduced fat Panela cheese

Aiming at producing a reduced fat cheese (RFC) as an alternative to full-fat Panela cheese, a highly consumed fresh Mexican dairy product, thermosonication (TS) processes (24 kHz, 400 W nominal power, 2, 4 and 6 min; 50, 55 and 60 °C) were evaluated to treat WPC (80% protein) blended with reduced-fat milk (1 and 2% fat), which were later LTLT pasteurized. TS blends were compared in terms of their technological properties (water holding capacity-WPC, gel firmness- GF, color, pH and titratable acidity) with those of a regular full fat (3%) LTLT pasteurized milk used as a control. Afterwards, a regression analysis was carried out with the obtained data in order to select the most appropriate conditions for cheesemaking purposes (similar GF, higher WHC with respect to the control), minimize both fat content and TS treatment duration to minimize energy expenses. According to these restrictions, the selected conditions were 1.5% fat milk-WPC blend, TS treated at 60 °C for 120 s; 1% fat milk-WPC blend, TS treated at 50 °C for 120 s and 1% fat milk-WPC blend, 50 °C for 144 s, which allowed preparing low fat cheeses (LFCs). These TS treatments were applied in a larger scale to elaborate Panela-type LFCs comparing different technological properties (cheese yield, syneresis, water content, texture profile analysis, color and titratable acidity) with those of a full fat variety, at day 1 and during 14 days of refrigerated storage. Results showed similar texture profiles of LFC cheeses and full fat milk cheeses throughout their storage period with significant changes in composition parameters (higher moisture, protein and salt contents, with low fat percentages), syneresis, selected color parameters (hue, b*), with no observed changes in cheese yield, TA and pH during cheese storage. These promising results are encouraging to develop LFCs with no physicochemical or technological defects using novel processing techniques that may help reducing calorie consumption without compromising sensory acceptability.

Exploring the potential of polysaccharides or plant proteins as structuring agents to design cheeses with sensory properties focused toward consumers in East and Southeast Asia: a review

The focus of the global cheese industry on accessing new markets for cheese is currently driving a greater need for innovation in cheese products. Research to date suggests that, for example, East Asian consumers prefer cheeses that have a soft texture, with mild and milky flavors. Strategies for achieving such cheese characteristics are reviewed in this article. For example, incorporation of polysaccharides into cheese results in cheese with higher moisture levels and softer textures; this also results in modification of other properties such as adhesiveness, meltability and flavor release. Hydrated polysaccharides may be considered as filler particles within cheese matrices, and therefore filled gel models with suitable filler particles can be used to establish the effect of filler volume, size and surface properties on the fractural and rheological properties of cheese matrices, thus guiding the use of polysaccharides. Addition of plant proteins such as soy and pea protein can also result in cheeses with softer texture. Furthermore, it has been suggested that heat-induced gelation of soy or pea protein with casein results in a gel structure consisting of two independent protein gels, thus facilitating the design of bespoke structures by adjusting the ratio of the two proteins. Finally, it is proposed that incorporation of ingredients with sensory properties familiar to East and Southeast Asian consumers and with the capacity to achieve bespoke textures offer potential for the development of cheese products for consumers in these markets.

Effect of anthocyanin-absorbed whey protein microgels on physicochemical and textural properties of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Reduced-fat foods have become more popular due to their health benefits; however, reducing the fat content of food affects the sensory experience. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the sensory acceptance of reduced-fat foods to that of full-fat equivalents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding whey protein microgels (WPM) with an average diameter of 4 μm, or WPM with adsorbed anthocyanins [WPM (Ant)] on the textural and sensory properties of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (RFC). Reduced-fat Cheddar cheese was prepared in 2 ways: (1) by adding WPM, designated as RFC+M, or (2) by adding WPM (Ant), designated as RFC+M (Ant). For comparison, RFC without fat substitutes and full-fat Cheddar cheese were also prepared. We discovered that the addition of WPM and WPM (Ant) increased the moisture content, fluidity, and meltability of RFC, and reduced its hardness, springiness, and chewiness. The textural and sensory characteristics of RFC were markedly inferior to those of full-fat Cheddar cheese, whereas addition of WPM and WPM (Ant) significantly improved the sensory characteristics of RFC. The WPM and WPM (Ant) showed a high potential as fat substitutes and anthocyanin carriers to effectively improve the acceptance of reduced-fat foods.

Modification of Physicochemical Properties of Breadfruit Flour Using Different Twin-Screw Extrusion Conditions and Its Application in Soy Protein Gels

The objective was to modify functional properties of breadfruit flours using twin-screw extrusion and test the physicochemical properties of the extruded flours. Extruded breadfruit flours were produced with twin-screw extrusion using different last barrel temperature (80 °C or 120 °C) and feed moisture content (17% or 30%). These conditions resulted in four extruded flours with different mechanical (specific mechanical energy, SME) and thermal (melt temperature) energies. At temperatures below the gelatinization of the native starch (<70 °C), swelling power was increased in all extruded treatments. Solubility was dramatically increased in high-SME extruded flours at all tested temperatures. Water holding capacity was dramatically increased in the low-SME extruded flours. A two-fold higher cold peak viscosity was obtained for low SME-high temperature extruded flour compared with the other extruded flours. Low SME-low temperature extruded flour still exhibited a hot peak viscosity, which occurred earlier than in native flour. Setback was decreased in all extruded flours, especially in high-SME treatments. The incorporation of extruded flours into soy protein gels did not affect cooking loss, while hardness and springiness decreased with the addition of extruded flours. Overall, extrusion of breadfruit flour altered functional flour properties, including water holding capacity and pasting properties, and modified the texture of soy protein gels.

Physicochemical, functional and morphological characterization of starches isolated from three native potatoes of the Andean region

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Significant differences in characterization of starches were observed among them.

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Imilla negra starch exhibited the highest apparent amylose and phosphorous content.

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Imilla negra starch presented higher resistant starch content in cooked starch.

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Loćka starch had the lowest apparent amylose content and higher crystallinity.

Three varieties of native potato (Imilla blanca, Imilla negra and Loc’ka) that grow in the Andean region at more than 3800 m.a.s.l. were selected fot the extraction and characterization or their starch. Instrumental techniques such as scanning electron microsocopic (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transformed infrarred spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction, colorimetry and polarized light microscopy were used. The results showed that only Loc’kás starch had a unimodal granule size distribution, whereas Imilla negra and Imilla blanca starches showed two and three granule size populations, respectively. The starch from Imilla negra showed higher apparent amylose content, peak viscosity, phosphorous content and paste clarity. The starch from Imilla blanca showed high relative crystallinity, while Imilla blanca and Imilla negra had higher intensity ratios than that from Loc’ka, suggesting high molecular order. Cooked starch from Imilla negra showed higher resistant starch (RS) fraction than the other starches studied.