Thermal and rheological properties of sponge cake batters and texture and microstructural characteristics of sponge cake made with native corn starch in partial or total replacement of wheat flour

• Addition of native corn starch in wheat flour batter was considered.
• Thermal and viscoelastic properties of batter formulations were evaluated.
• Native corn starch increased zero shear stress viscosity.
• Gelatinization enthalpy decreased with native corn starch content.
• Sponge cake texture features decreased with native corn starch addition.

The effect of substituting wheat flour by native corn starch on the rheological and thermal properties of sponge cake batter formulations, and on the texture and microstructural characteristics of sponge cake were evaluated. Thermal analysis showed that starch granules underwent only incipient swelling due to the limited availability of water in the batter matrix. Increasing replacement of wheat flour by native corn starch endowed increasing order to the batter matrix, but produced a decrease in the apparent viscosity, and a drop in the storage and loss moduli. Creep-recovery tests showed that the retardation time was only slightly affected by native corn starch content, indicating that a consolidated 3D network was formed by interaction of starch granules with other components of the batter formulations, with bonds restoration and fracture taking place at similar rates. The textural characteristics of the sponge cake decreased monotonously as the native corn starch content increased. In brief, the use of native corn starch enabled the modulation of the textural properties of wheat-based breads without sacrificing dough viscoelasticity.