Construction and In Vitro Digestibility of Recrystallized Starch Encapsulated in Calcium Alginate Beads

In order to reduce the digestion rate of starch in human body and improve the content of slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS), millimeter calcium alginate beads encapsulated with different proportions of recrystallized starch were constructed in this study. First, we prepared recrystallized starch (RS3) by debranching waxy corn starch and retrogradation, and then encapsulated RS3 in calcium alginate beads by the ionic gel method. The microstructure of the beads was observed by scanning electron microscope, and the gel texture properties, swelling properties, and in vitro digestibility of the beads were studied. The results showed that the beads after cooking still maintained high hardness and chewiness, and the swelling power and solubility of the beads were lower than that of native starch. Compared with native starch, the content of rapidly digestible starch (RDS) in beads decreased, while the content of SDS and RS increased. The sample with the highest content of RS is RS3₁@Alginate₁, whose content of RS is 70.10%, 52.11 times higher than that of waxy corn starch and 1.75 times higher than that of RS3. RS3 encapsulated in calcium alginate beads has a good encapsulation effect, and the content of SDS and RS is greatly increased. This study has important implications for reducing the digestion rate of starch and regulating the health of people with diabetes and obesity.