Insight into the effect of garlic peptides on the physicochemical and anti-staling properties of wheat starch.

The staling of wheat starch in storage seriously damages the quality of starch-based foods, and how to delay the staling has become a topic focus. To solve the problem, this study analyzed the effect of garlic peptides on the physical and retrogradation behaviors of wheat starch during storage. The rheological, pasting, swelling properties, molecular order, water migration, and microstructure of wheat starch gels were evaluated. Our results showed that garlic peptides effectively reduced the storage and loss modulus of wheat starch. The physical properties indicated that garlic peptides suppressed the swelling and gelatinization of starch, which exhibited higher water holding capacity and lower water migration. In addition, garlic peptides incorporated wheat starch exhibited the lowest gel hardness during storage. X-ray diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis indicated that garlic peptides could reduce the crystallinity and inhibit the formation of ordered structures in wheat starch gel. The microstructure observation showed that the gel with garlic peptides maintained the integrity of the network structure. Consequently, garlic peptides are expected to be an effective natural additive to inhibit starch staling and provide new insights for starch-based foods.