Molecular order and functional properties of starches from three waxy wheat varieties grown in China

• Molecular order of starches from three waxy wheat varieties was characterized.
• No significant differences were noted in molecular order of waxy wheat starches.
• Small and in some cases significant differences observed in functional properties.
• Waxy wheat starch is resistant to recrystallization under the stored conditions.

Molecular order and functional properties of starch from three waxy wheat varieties grown in China were investigated by a combination of various technical analyses. The total starch content of the waxy wheat ranged between 54.1% and 55.0%, and the amylose content of the starch was between 0.71% and 1.63%. Average particle diameter of the three starches varied between 16.5 and 17.4 μm. Three waxy wheat starches presented the typical A-type X-ray diffraction pattern, with relative crystallinity between 38.7% and 40.0%. No significant differences were observed in relative crystallinity, IR ratios of 1047/1022 cm−1 and 1022/995 cm−1, and FWHH of the band at 480 cm−1, indicating the similarity in long-range order of crystallites and short-range order of double helices of three starch granules. Small differences were observed in swelling power, gelatinization parameters, pasting viscosities, and in vitro enzymatic digestibility of three waxy wheat starches. Under the stored condition, no retrogradation occurred for three waxy wheat starches.