From Micro to Nanoscale: A Critical Review on the Concept, Production, Characterization, and Application of Starch Nanostructure
Bruna Lago Tagliapietra, Bruna Guedes de Melo, Edgar Aparecido Sanches, Manuel Salvador Vicente Plata‐Oviedo, Pedro Henrique Campelo, María Teresa Pedrosa Silva Clerici
Abstract
Abstract Evaluation of nanoparticles obtained from starch is still on a laboratory scale and many challenges need to be overcome up to the industrial scale. In this review, information about the study and development of nanostarches are reported based on a discussion of concepts, production methods, as well as physico‐chemical and technological characterization, safety and applications. The usual methods of producing nanostarches (such as acid hydrolysis, enzymatic pretreatment, high pressure homogenization and ultrasound) are discussed in this review, as well as the advancement of applications in the food industry (as in Pickering emulsion, carriers, films and nanocomposite production). Due to the wide variety of data, a protocol for the analysis of starch nanostructures is suggested. However, methods for quantifying starch nanoparticles are based on yield by weight, and no quantification method has yet been presented for processed products. All reports present a promising future for several areas, both in research and industrial applications, as they are considered as open doors to the many challenges on this research area.