Effects of corn fiber gum (CFG) on the pasting and thermal behaviors of maize starch

Corn fiber gum (CFG) was a novel arabinoxylan hydrocolloid and recent researches showed its considerable potential in food processing. In this study, the interactions of maize starch and CFG were studied. Maize starch/CFG blend gels were prepared from maize starch suspension mixing with 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0% (w/w) CFG. The pasting and thermal properties, rheological properties, microstructure, leached amylose and swelling power characteristics were evaluated. Compared with the reference, CFG addition lowered peak viscosity and breakdown of the composite system, but increased final viscosity in RVA measurement. The swelling power and the amount of leached amylose of maize starch gels were reduced as the addition concentration of CFG increased. The thermal characteristics of maize starch/CFG mixtures varied insignificantly as determined in DSC heating process. Rheological parameters, such as storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G”), of the maize starches were observed to increase when CFG was present, supporting the hypothesis that the interaction between CFG and amylose could happen in the composite system. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) confirmed changes in gels microstructure as starch components tended to be inhibited from leaching out of the granules when CFG was added, and the morphology of starch granule was more compact when CFG was added.