The molecular structure, morphology, and physicochemical property and digestibility of potato starch after repeated and continuous heat–moisture treatment

Abstract The multiscale structural, physicochemical, and digestible properties of potato starch before and after heat–moisture treatment were investigated, and further compared between repeated heat–moisture treatment (RHMT) and continuous heat–moisture treatment (CHMT). After heat–moisture treatment, there appeared partial disruption and pits on the starch granules, and the birefringence edges of HMT starch particles became blurred. Besides, the molecular weight of samples conspicuously decreased after two kinds of treatments. The crystal type of HMT starches transformed from B‐type to C‐type according to X‐ray analysis. A decrease in the solubility and swelling power in high temperatures were identified. The pasting temperature, the gelatinization transition temperature ( T o , T p , T c ), and the slowly digestible starch (SDS) content of HMT starches were significantly higher than native potato starch, while the peak viscosity, the trough viscosity, the final viscosity, the breakdown, and the gelatinization enthalpy ( ΔH ) of RHMT and CHMT potato starches decreased compared to the native. RHMT potato starches displayed significantly higher relative crystallinity degree and gelatinization transition temperatures. The cooling process of RHMT in which the linkage between the recombinant amylose/amylopectin was enhanced compared with CHMT, which contributed to that RHMT potato starches exhibited greater advantages in practical applications. Practical Application The described RHMT and CHMT starches provide new ideas for the study of modified starch. Furthermore, this study revealed the mechanism of heat–moisture processing provided some instructions to the application of RHMT potato starch.