Odor-scavenging capabilities of pre-formed “empty” V-type starches for beany off-flavor compounds

Off-flavors have garnered significant attention in research due to their impact on overall flavor, which leads consumers to avoid purchasing or consuming food products with off-flavors, even if they offer health benefits. However, there has been limited research on encapsulating off-flavor compounds as a means to mask them and to improve the flavor profiles of food products. Starch, particularly its amylose component, is well-known for its ability to form inclusion complexes (ICs) with various small molecules, providing protection and controlled release of these encapsulated guest molecules. The complexation interaction between starch and guest compounds is influenced by factors such as the structure and chemistry of the guest, as well as the process method and parameters. In the present study, nine different beany off-flavor compounds, including hexanal (HAL), 3-hexanol (HOL), benzaldehyde (BAL), 1-octen-3-ol (OOL), 1-octen-3-one (ONE), 2-pentylfuran (PTF), trans-2-nonenal (NAL), trans, trans-2,4-nonadienal (NAD), and trans, trans-2,4-decadienal (DEC) were used as model off-flavors to examine their complexation ability with three types of preformed “empty” V-type high amylose maize starches (HAMS), namely V_6h, V₇, and V₈. The successful formation of inclusion complexes was characterized using complementary techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results revealed that the complexation of off-flavor compounds with the starches did not significantly alter the original structures of the starches. Additionally, the IC samples prepared using the gas phase (GP) approach exhibited significantly higher encapsulation efficiency compared to the direct contact (DC) approach, as indicated by GC-MS analysis. Among the V-type starches, V_6h HAMS demonstrated the highest complexation efficiency for all selected beany off-flavor compounds when the ICs were prepared using the GP approach. This study suggests that both V_6h and V₈ starches exhibit effective scavenging abilities for beany off-flavor compounds. Further, complexation properties depend on the properties of the off-flavor compounds, the type of V starch used, and the IC preparation approach.