Morphological, physico-chemical and functional properties of underutilized starches in China.

In this study, starches were isolated from different non-conventional sources (acorn, black wheat, buckwheat, coix seed, jiaoyu, kuzhu, longya lily, and naked oat) cultivated in China, and their morphological, physico-chemical, and functional properties were analyzed. Among isolated starches, significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in morphology, pasting, crystallinity, physico-chemical, and functional properties. After a comparison with commercial corn starch, all these isolated starches presented promising and unique characteristics. The XRD profile of isolated starches presented A-type (naked oat, buckwheat, coix seed, and black wheat), B-type (longya lily, acorn and jiaoyu) and C-type (kuzhu) polymorphic structures. SEM analysis revealed that the starches isolated from different sources showed distinct shapes exclusively globular, elliptic, and polygonal shapes. The high viscosity of jiaoyu and kuzhu starch pastes can be utilized to have an advantage in instant soups and sauces. Hence, the present study will improve the scientific basis on starches from different non-conventional sources, facilitate their utilization in a variety of applications.