ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Process Design and Engineering
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frfst.2025.1629161
This article is part of the Research TopicNonthermal Processes to Foster Diversity, Sustainability and Resilience of Future Food SystemsView all articles
Production of HPP Natural Hydrogels from Conventional and Nonconventional Starch Sources
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
- 2ProdAl Scarl, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy., Fisciano, Italy
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Starches from conventional sources such as cereal crops, pulses, and tubers have been widely utilized to produce starch-based hydrogels, which are complex networks able to absorb and retain substantial amounts of water. However, in recent years due to the increasing interest to produce these biomaterials, also starches derived from non-conventional sources have gained attention. In this study, conventional and non-conventional starches isolated from pea flour, lentil flour, unripe apples, and banana peels were used to produce starch-based hydrogels by high-pressure processing (HPP). The starch powders were isolated through traditional methods and showed high starch content (76.91-86.56%) and minimal starch damage. According to their amylose content, ranging from 18.74% to 22.42%, these starches were classified as normal starches. Starch suspensions (25% w/w in distilled water) were treated at 600 MPa for 15 minutes at room temperature to enable starch gelatinization. Gel formation was assessed by analysing the gelatinization extent, structuring level, and swelling power of the samples. Furthermore, the physical appearance and flow profile of the obtained structures were evaluated. The results indicated that the starch-based hydrogels produced under these processing conditions exhibited different gel formation levels, physical appearance, and flow behaviour. These differences were attributed to the distinct properties of the recovered starches. More work is needed to assess the mechanical properties and physical stability of these structured materials during shelf life.
Keywords: Starch, Conventional sources, nonconventional sources, Natural hydrogels, starchbased hydrogels, High-pressure processing
Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Koshenaj and Ferrari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Giovanna Ferrari, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
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