Interaction between wheat starch and hawthorn seed polysaccharide and its influence on starch properties and in vitro digestibility

This study investigated the impact of alkaline extracted hawthorn seed polysaccharides (AHSP) on the properties and in vitro digestibility of wheat starch (WS) under co-heating and non-co-heating conditions. AHSP dose-dependently inhibited the hydrolysis of WS, with the 5 % AHSP co-heating treatment significantly reducing the degree of hydrolysis by 42.33 %. Correspondingly, the resistant starch (RS) content was increased with the increasing dose of AHSP, which demonstrated the effectiveness of co-heating interactions in reducing WS digestibility. The binding style was that AHSP bound to the linear chains of WS via physical forces, achieving a complexation index of 48 % (at 5 % AHSP), which inhibited the solubilization and facilitated the aggregation of WS. Additionally, the strong associative network between WS and AHSP increased apparent viscosity and enhanced the short-range ordered and crystalline structures of WS. These results provided a foundation for applying AHSP in developing starchy foods with low glycemic index (GI).