Gaseous Ozonation at Low Concentration Modifies Functional, Pasting, and Thermal Properties of Arrowroot Starch (Maranta arundinaceae)

Gaseous ozone at 13 parts per million (ppm) is applied repeatedly (10–30 cycles) to oxidize dry arrowroot starch. The ozonation increases carboxyl content of the starch by 0.13–0.52%. The starch granule surface becomes rougher and it exhibits a presence of fissure particularly at 30 cycles. Crystallinity decreases with the increase of ozonation cycle but the A‐type pattern of the native starch remains unchanged. Swelling volume, solubility, water absorption capacity, and gel strength of the native starch increases following ozonation particularly at 30 cycles. Freeze–thaw stability is also augmented as indicated by a decrease in syneresis. The ozonation at 10, 20 and 30 cycles remarkably decreases the syneresis of native starch (5.24%) to 0.02%, 0.002% and 0.001% respectively. No effect of ozonation on pasting point is observed but an increase of values of the other pasting properties is noted. Regarding thermal properties, the ozonation increases T0 of the arrowroot starch. The decrease in ΔT, along with the increase in ΔH of the ozonated starch, suggests that the ozonation leads to the formation of more homogenous and stronger crystallites. Overall, the effectiveness of gaseous ozonation at low concentration on modifying starch properties is dependent on the number of ozonation cycles. Low concentration of gaseous ozone applied repeatedly 10–30 cycles to dry arrowroot starch led to higher carboxyl content, rougher granular surface, crystallinity reduction with more homogenous and stronger crystallites. These changes are accompanied by an improvement in swelling volume and freeze–thaw stability which are good for food products requiring starch with better swelling capacity and stability to retrogradation.