Atmospheric pressure pin-to-plate cold plasma effect on physicochemical, functional, pasting, thermal, and structural characteristics of proso-millet starch

[Display omitted] •Plasma-treated PMS paste showed better clarity on 5 days of storage.•Relative crystallinity degree (%) of starch increased after cold plasma treatment.•Cold plasma treated PMS yield low-viscous starch pastes.•Solubility of cold plasma treated PMS increased by 45.27% The present work aimed to study the influence of atmospheric pressure pin-to-plate cold plasma on the physicochemical (pH, moisture, and amylose content), functional (water & oil binding capacity, solubility & swelling power, paste clarity on storage, pasting), powder flow, thermal and structural (FTIR, XRD, and SEM) characteristics at an input voltage of 170–230 V for 5–15 min. The starch surface modification by cold plasma was seen in the SEM images which cause the surge in WBC (1.54 g/g to 1.93 g/g), OBC (2.22 g/g to 2.79 g/g), solubility (3.05–5.38% at 70 °C; 37.11–52.98% at 90 °C) and swelling power (5.39–7.83% at 70 °C; 25.67–35.33% at 90 °C) of starch. Reduction in the amylose content (27.82% to 25.07%) via plasma-induced depolymerization resists the retrogradation tendency, thereby increasing the paste clarity (up to ̴ 39%) during the 5 days of refrigerated storage. However, the paste viscosity is reduced after cold plasma treatment yielding low-strength starch pastes. The relative crystallinity of starch increased (37.35% to 45.36%) by the plasma-induced fragmented starch granules which would aggregate and broaden the gelatinization temperature, but these starch fragments reduced the gelatinization enthalpy. The fundamental starch structure is conserved as seen in FTIR spectra. Thus, cold plasma aids in the production of soluble, low-viscous, stable, and clear paste-forming depolymerized proso-millet starch.