Effects of dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment on the structural orders and functional properties of chickpea starch
Ruihong Li, Xiaoyu Li, An Tu, Chengtong Jing, Shuang Dong, Shanfeng Chen, Peng Guo
Abstract
Summary Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma with different generation currents was introduced to modify chickpea starches of Kabuli and Desi varieties. The changes of starch structural orders and functional properties were investigated. Results demonstrated that the crystalline structure of starches was generally destroyed upon plasma treatment, while the change of double‐helical order was relatively limited. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that DBD plasma altered the surface molecular structure of starch, mainly involving oxidation effects. The gelatinization transition temperatures of plasma‐treated Kabuli starch (KS) mainly remained unchanged, while those of Desi starch (DS) significantly decreased. DBD plasma dramatically reduced the pasting viscosity of KS with the increase of treatment intensity, as well as the amylose content and swelling power, while had little influence on DS. Furthermore, the digestion rate and extent of chickpea starches gradually increased with the treatment intensity. Correlation analysis revealed that the starch digestibility induced by DBD plasma was largely depending on the crystalline structure, while the double helical order had little influence. These findings could provide theoretical basis for exploiting DBD plasma as a new strategy to modify chickpea starch.