Thermal and structural study of drying method effect in high amylose starch- beta-carotene nanoparticles prepared with cold gelatinization

•Starches’ cold gelatinization and precipitation could drive to nanoparticles.•Beta-carotene could be encapsulated to starch nanoparticles.•Crystallinity is an important factor in the encapsulation.•The drying method could affect the crystallinity of the encapsulated nanoparticles. In the present research an alkali treatment was used for starch gelatinization followed by β-carotene dilution in ethanol and starch particles/β-carotene nanoprecipitation. A drying process was applied to obtain the nanoparticles. The drying time has been changed for the best approach to receive nanoparticles. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) were used for particles structural changes, particle crystallinity and particle size determination respectively. Finally, the beta-carotene recovery was measured. The produced nanoparticles had a crystallinity ranged from 24.50 to 31.00% according to the drying method. The β-carotene recovery was between 22.60% and 42.50%. It seemed that there was a particle size decrease when the β-carotene was encapsulated in the nanoparticles. [Display omitted]