Preparing potato starch nanocrystals assisted by dielectric barrier discharge plasma and its multiscale structure, physicochemical and rheological properties

•Starch nanocrystals (SNCs) were prepared assisted by plasma treatment.•Plasma treatment depolymerized the amylopectin chains and caused more short chains.•Plasma degraded the SNCs molecules and reduced the molecular weight of amylopectin.•The apparent viscosity of SNCs was decreased after plasma process. Non-thermal plasma has increasingly been used for surface modification of various materials as a novel green technology. In this study, we prepared potato starch nanocrystals (SNCs) assisted by dielectric barrier discharge plasma technology and investigated its multiscale structure, physicochemical properties and rheology. Plasma treatment did not change the morphology and crystalline pattern of SNCs but reduced the crystallinity. The amylose content, swelling power, gelatinization temperature, and apparent viscosity of SNCs decreased after the plasma process by depolymerizing the amylopectin branch chains and degrading SNCs molecules. Besides, plasma increased the rapidly digestible starch and resistant starch content. Changes in rheological properties of plasma treated SNCs suggested that the plasma process increased the flowing capacity. The effective structural and functional changes of plasma treated SNCs confirm that plasma technology has great potential for modification of SNCs.