Effect of industry-scale microfluidization on structural and physicochemical properties of potato starch

Abstract

A recently designed “industry-scale microfluidizer” (ISM) was applied to treat potato starch, then the structural and physicochemical properties of potato starch treated at different ISM pressure (30, 60, 90, and 120 MPa) were investigated. As ISM pressure increased, starch granule size was firstly increased, and subsequently declined at 120 MPa. A remarkable destruction of starch granules was observed, and all the large granules disintegrated into irregular block-like structures after treatment at 120 MPa. Both crystalline and short-range ordered structure were progressively disrupted with the increase of pressure. The structural destruction was attributed to starch gelatinization, which depended on ISM pressure. ISM treatment could arbitrarily adjust pasting viscosity and increase setback value of potato starch. Moreover, moduli and mechanical rigidity of starch pastes were enhanced by ISM treatment. These results implied that ISM treatment could be a potential choice to modify starch containing large granules at an industrial level. Industrial relevanceMicrofluidization was an available physical technique to improve functional properties of starch. However, it was difficult for conventional microfluidizer to treat starch containing big granule sizes both in laboratory and industrial scale owing to the drawbacks of devices. A recently designed “industry-scale microfluidizer” (ISM) in our laboratory could be applied to treat potato starch containing large granules. This preliminary study gave important indications that the practical industrial applications of potato starch could be widen by safe and simple microfludization technology, and ISM may be used for processing whole grains flour to obtain nutritional products.