Effects of Processing on Starch Structure, Textural, and Digestive Property of “Horisenbada”, a Traditional Mongolian Food

Abstract

Horisenbada, prepared by the soaking, steaming, and baking of millets, is a traditional Mongolian food and is characterized by its long shelf life, convenience, and nutrition. In this study, the effect of processing on the starch structure, textural, and digestive property of millets was investigated. Compared to the soaking treatment, steaming and baking significantly reduced the molecular size and crystallinity of the millet starch, while baking increased the proportion of long amylose chains, partially destroyed starch granules, and formed a closely packed granular structure. Soaking and steaming significantly reduced the hardness of the millets, while the hardness of baked millets is comparable to that of raw millet grains. By fitting digestive curves with a first-order model and logarithm of the slope (LOS) plot, it showed that the baking treatment significantly reduced the digestibility of millets, the steaming treatment increased the digestibility of millets, while the soaked millets displayed a similar digestive property with raw millets, in terms of both digestion rate and digestion degree. This study could improve the understanding of the effects of processing on the palatability and health benefits of Horisenbada.