Physical properties and loading capacity of gelatinized granular starches

• Gelatinized granular starch (GGS) was prepared by treating the starches with ethanol solution.
• The GGS showed porous and wrinkled surface and good granular integrity.
• V-type crystallinity in GGS was formed when the treating temperature was above 75 °C.
• The loading capacity of GGSs was investigated with tea polyphenols as a model drug.
• The GGS-85 shows the best adsorption capacity among the GGSs obtained.

The gelatinized granular starches (GGSs) were prepared by treating granules with aqueous ethanol. The prepared GGSs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. SEM pictures of the GGSs treated ethanol at controlled temperatures (80, 85, and 88 °C) showed porous and wrinkled surface. A-type diffraction reflections were completely lost with evolution of V-type patterns of these samples, and their swelling power was increased with increasing temperature. In addition, drug loading capacity was investigated with tea polyphenols (TP) as a model drug on the basis of single-factor study. It was found that the loading amount of TP was significantly influenced by loading time, loading temperature as well as TP concentration (P < 0.05). Either the increase of loading time or drug concentration could lead to the increase of drug loading amount of GGSs, however, drug loading amount reached its maximum in aqueous medium at room temperature.