Optimization of reaction conditions for improving nutritional properties in heat moisture treated maize starch

Impact of heat-moisture treatment (HMT) on nutritional properties of normal maize starch (NMS) under various reaction conditions was investigated. NMS was adjusted to moisture levels of 20%, 25%, 30% and 35% and heated at 80, 100, 120 and 140 °C for 4, 8, 12 and 16 h. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to obtain the optimal combination of moisture level (X1: 20-30%), length of heating (X2: 4-12 h), and temperature (X3: 100-140 °C). The optimum reaction condition decreased rapidly digestible starch (RDS) from 87.10% to 82.21%, when NMS was subjected to HMT at 23.6% moisture content and heated at 114.8 °C for 9.04 h. The ANOVA measurement and confirmation experiments were performed to verify the predictive value and the RSM model, indicating that temperature was the main factor to determine the digestion rate of HMT NMS. The results suggested that RDS was not correlated to heating length but positively correlated to temperature and moisture content. Reaction condition had no correlations with slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS). This study could provide more information for producing low-glycemic index products.