Construction of corn starch-palmitic acid-maltitol using improved extrusion cooking technology and investigating its retrogradation mechanism

The retrogradation of starch significantly impacts the quality of starch-based foods, making its inhibition critically important. This study employs an improved extrusion cooking technology to construct a composite system of corn starch (CS), palmitic acid (PA), and maltitol (MA), aiming to investigate the mechanism by which extrusion treatment (ET) synergizes with the addition of exogenous substances to inhibit starch retrogradation. The results showed that ET synergised with PA and MA significantly reduced setback Viscosity, breakdown Viscosity, iodine binding capacity, and average particle size of CS. After 7 d of storage, the retrogradation enthalpy, hardness and crystallinity of E-0.5 %PA-5 %MA were reduced by 68.75 %, 72.87 % and 59.97 % compared to CS. The Avrami equation indicated that the nucleation mode of all modified starches was transient. E-0.5 %PA-5 %MA inhibited the rate of starch recrystallisation better. In addition, its short-range ordered structure and helical structure also showed a decreasing trend, PA may formed a V-shaped structure with starch, and ET synergised with PA and MA hindered the rearrangement of starch chains during retrogradation and inhibited the retrogradation properties of CS. The results of this study provide new ideas for the design and development of starch-based food products and quality enhancement.