Insights into the rheological properties, multi-scale structure and in vitro digestibility changes of starch-β-glucan complex prepared by ball milling

High amylose corn starch (HACS)-oat β-glucan (OBG) complex was prepared by ball milling treatment. The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized, and the digestibility of the samples was studied. SEM analysis showed that the grain structure of oat β-glucan-starch after ball milling showed an irregular aggregate shape. The rheological results indicated that the apparent viscosity of the solution of HACS-OBG complex prepared by ball milling, with the values of both G′ and G″ decreasing on the increase of OBG addition. Multi-scale structure analysis showed that the disorder of the crystal structure and short-range structure of the HACS-OBG complex would lead to the decrease of the double helix structure content. In terms of digestibility, the RDS of the complex decreased from 75.88 % to 66.26 %, which suppressed the digestibility of starch. Molecular docking and quantum chemistry techniques further demonstrated the strong hydrogen bond interaction between HACS and OBG and the inhibition rate of OBG on the enzyme, which was conducive to the slow digestion of HACS-OBG complex. Therefore, ball milling treatment can promote the binding of OBG to starch, which may be an effective method for postprandial blood glucose control. •Starch - Oat-β-glucan complexes were prepared by ball milling treatment.•High amylose corn starch - Oat-β-glucan complexes cannot form distinct crystallites.•Oat-β-glucan accelerated the disorder of starch short-range ordered structure.•Complexation with Oat-β-glucan can decrease the digestibility of starch.