Effect of Hydroxypropylation and Beta‐Amylase Treatment on Complexation of Debranched Starch With Naringenin

Naringenin exhibits many health benefits but it has limited water solubility and consequently low bioavailability. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of hydroxypropylation and enzymatic treatments on starch complexation with naringenin. Potato starch and Hylon VII are hydroxypropylated to two substitution degrees and then debranched or debranched/β‐amylase treated prior to complexing with naringenin. Both soluble and insoluble complexes are recovered and characterized. An increase in hydroxypropylation level improves recovery of soluble complexes, while total recovery remains unchanged; the β‐amylase treatment further increases soluble complex recovery. For the same treatment, the naringenin content is greater in Hylon VII complexes (6.72–15.15 mg g−1) than in potato starch complexes (2.45–11.18 mg g−1). Insoluble complexes have greater naringenin contents (3.91–15.15 mg g−1) compared to their soluble counterparts (2.45–9.43 mg g−1). All complexes exhibit a mixture of B + V X‐ray diffraction pattern. This work is the first one to demonstrate that hydroxypropylated starch forms complexes with naringenin, and an appropriate level of beta‐amylase hydrolysis further improves their complexation. Hydroxypropylation of potato starch and Hylon VII combined with debranching or debranching/ß‐amylase treatment result in soluble and insoluble complexes. Low hydroxypropylated debranched/ß‐amylase treated starches display insoluble complexes with greater naringenin content, demonstrating that chain length reduction improves the complexation, while the complex's physical characteristics were greatly affected by the chain length and the degree of substitution.