High pressure treated corn starch as an alternative carrier of molecules of nutritional interest for food systems

L. DELADINO; ALBA NAVARRO; ANTONIO MOLINA-GARCÍA; ALINE TEIXEIRA

Applications of Novel Polymers for Encapsulation of Nutraceutical Compounds

Wiley

Año: 2017; p. 35 - 53

Corn starch is considered a good vehiculization media for delivering bioactive compounds, as supplements or health promoting additives. High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) treatment has been used to gelatinize or provoke modifications of starch dispersions since HHP gelatinized starch shows different properties from heat-gelatinized one. Pressure values of 600 MPa are necessary to fully gelatinize the most of the starches but, lower pressure (300-400 Mpa) are enough to cause partial alterations in the granular structure, leading to a high grade of microstructural alterations. This would favor the binding of compounds and their release in a digestive system step. As case study, the ability of corn starch treated by HHP to bind and carry zinc and magnesium salts and natural antioxidants of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) extracts is described. Also the stage in which the active compound is incorporated (before or after HHP treatment) could be considered as a process variable. The effect of high hydrostatic treatment is evidenced by the change of the shape of starch granules and their surface appearance observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the extent of starch granule gelatinization quantified by calorimetric measurements (DSC). An increased granule specific surface area, is another advantage of the treatment detected by nitrogen adsorption. This increase in surface is due to the generation of pores, which favor the adsorption of mineral salts and yerba mate hydrosoluble polyphenols. Significantly higher amounts of these bioactive compounds are loaded by the HHP treated starches, however native starch could be also an appropriate antioxidant carrier as well. An important feature to highlight is that the antioxidant activity is maintained after high pressure treatment without changing the yerba mate polyphenols profile.Starch granule partially gelatinized by HP is a promising carrier for different compounds with food applications.