Structure, rheological, textural and thermal properties of potato starch - Inulin gels

•The properties of potato starch + inulin gels were investigated.•The competition of both components for water affected properties of gels.•Properties of gels depend also on concentration of both polysaccharides.

This paper presents studies on the structure, rheological, textural and thermal properties of potato starch + inulin gels at widely differentiated overall concentration and proportions of both gel components. The increase of polysaccharides concentration changed viscoelastic properties and firmness of gels, compared to control samples. Noticeable differences were observed at 6% concentration of starch and 25% of inulin. DSC suggested that gelatinization of potato starch with inulin produced the binary gel of the common network, that could resulted from the competition of both components for water (caused by high affinity of these polysaccharides to water molecules), which was a key factor influencing starch gelatinization and affected properties of the obtained gels.