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. 2025 Dec 14;14(24):4304.
doi: 10.3390/foods14244304.

Different Varieties of Water Caltrop (Trapa bispinosa) Starch: Physicochemical Properties and Digestibility Modulated by Its Multi-Scale Structure

Tengfei Ma  1 , Qiong Wu  2 , Yuyang Yuan  1 , Xiaoxin Chen  1 , Qinlu Lin  1 , Huaxi Xiao  1 , Jiangtao Li  1 , Wenfang Han  1
Affiliations

Different Varieties of Water Caltrop (Trapa bispinosa) Starch: Physicochemical Properties and Digestibility Modulated by Its Multi-Scale Structure

Tengfei Ma et al. Foods. .

Abstract

This study assessed the physicochemical properties and digestibility of starches derived from five varieties of water caltrop, focusing on their multi-scale structure. Water caltrop starch granules exhibited round, oval, or polygonal shapes with smooth surfaces, exhibiting unimodal particle size distributions and A-, C-, or C/A-type crystal patterns. T.qR'Green' exhibited the highest amylose content (30.93%), the lowest peak viscosity and breakdown, and the highest setback. T.bR'Green' had the highest crystallinity (29.04%) and endothermic enthalpy (15.39 J/g), with a more ordered internal structure. T.bR'Red' had the lowest crystallinity (24.94%), gelatinization temperature, and endothermic enthalpy (8.08 J/g), while showing the highest peak viscosity and breakdown, the lowest setback, and the highest resistant starch content (47.2%), thus possessing stronger resistance to digestion. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the thermal properties of water caltrop starches were mainly influenced by the amylopectin B-chains and short-range order, while pasting properties were mainly affected by amylopectin B-chains and crystallinity. Amylose content positively influenced solubility but negatively affected swelling power. Additionally, water caltrop starch digestibility showed a negative correlation with granule size and short-range order. These findings indicated the significant impact of starch multi-scale structure on physicochemical properties and digestibility.

Keywords: digestibility; multi-scale structure; physicochemical properties; starch; water caltrop.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Photographs of water caltrop (1) and water caltrop flesh (2); morphologies of starch granules under scanning electron microscopy (3), normal light microscopy (4), and polarized light microscopy (5). (A) T.qR‘Green’; (B) T.qR‘Red’; (C) T.a; (D) T.bR‘Red’; (E) T.bR‘Green’.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The particle size distribution (A) and particle size parameters (B) of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 3
Figure 3
XRD patterns of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 4
Figure 4
FTIR patterns (A), the R1047/1022 and R995/1022 values (B) of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Double-logarithmic SAXS patterns of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 6
Figure 6
13C CP/MAS NMR patterns of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Amylopectin chain length distributions of all water caltrop starch samples. Ap is the average chain length of the amylopectin chain.
Figure 8
Figure 8
DSC patterns (A) and thermal properties parameters (B) of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 9
Figure 9
RVA patterns of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Swelling power (A) and solubility (B) of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 11
Figure 11
RDS, SDS, and RS contents of all water caltrop starch samples.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Correlation analysis between water caltrop starch structure and properties.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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