• Citric acid esterification can increase the SDS and RS contents of cassava starch.
  • Citric acid esterification does not change the crystalline pattern of cassava starch.
  • Citric acid esterification can improve the freeze-thaw stability of cassava starch.
  • Citric acid esterification changes the thermal properties of cassava starch.

Abstract

In this study, citric acid was used to react with cassava starch in order to compare the digestibility, structural and physicochemical properties of citrate starch samples. The results indicated that citric acid esterification treatment significantly increased the content of resistant starch (RS) in starch samples. The swelling power and solubility of citrate starch samples were lower than those of native starch. Compared with native starch, a new peak at 1724 cm−1 was appeared in all citrate starch samples, and crystalline peaks of all starch citrates became much smaller or even disappeared. Differential scanning calorimetry results indicated that the endothermic peak of citrate starches gradually shrank or even disappeared. Moreover, the citrate starch gels exhibited better freeze–thaw stability. These results suggested that citric acid esterification induced structural changes in cassava starch significantly affected its digestibility and it could be a potential method for the preparation of RS with thermal stability.