Influence of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on the structure of microcrystalline starch with different relative crystallinity

This study demonstrated the effect on microcrystalline starch (MS) with different relative crystallinity (RC) by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) treatment for 1, 3, 5 or 7 min. The morphology of MS granules was destroyed according to Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. APPJ treatment did not change the crystalline type of MS, but obviously decreased the RC of MS. Short-range molecular order of MS was clearly decreased after APPJ treatment though the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Notably, the effect of APPJ on crystalline and short-range order structure of MS was gradually increased with the increase of RC, which revealed that the crystalline region of MS might be destroyed by APPJ. Furthermore, the pH of MS was decreased while water binding capacity (WBC) and swelling volume (SV) of MS were increased. Therefore, the APPJ treatment could be used as an alternative physical technology for starch modification.