Improvement of maize starch-lauric acid complexes by plasma pretreatment: Formation, structure, properties and its related mechanisms

Starch–lipid complexes have attracted widespread attention owing to high anti-digestibility and thermal stability. However, methods to increase the content of starch–lipid complexes are limited. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment for different times (0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 min) on the formation and structure of complexes between maize starch (MS) and lauric acid (LA). The results showed that the amylose content of MS increased from 18.44 % to 31.01 % after ACP treatment. Moreover, structural characterization of complexes revealed that short-term ACP treatment (1 min) favored the formation of MS–LA complexes, resulting in a better V-type crystalline structure (14.90 %) and short-range ordered structure (0.793) with higher thermal stability (4.47 J/g) and no obvious morphological differences. In addition, the resistant starch content of MS-LA complexes increased from 30 % to 33 % in MS treated with ACP for 1 min. This may be because the active substances in ACP depolymerized starch, destroyed α-1,6 glycosidic bonds, broke branch chains, and increased amylose content, which promoted the formation of complexes to a certain extent. This study proposes a method to promote the formation of starch-lipid complexes, broadening potential application of complexes in low-GI food, stabilizer, and microcapsule carrier.