Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2026, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6): 1271-1284.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20260040

• Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research progress on ultrasound modification of tuber and root starches

XIONG Shujian1(), XIA Qiquan1, HU Weiwei2,*()   

  1. 1 School of Tourism and Culinary Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, Jiangsu, China
    2 Institute of Food Science, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
  • Received:2026-01-18 Online:2026-06-25 Published:2026-07-14

Abstract:

As important non-cereal starch sources, tuber and root starches not only provide dietary energy, but are also suitable for the food and pharmaceutical fields due to their unique granule characteristics and good emulsifying and gelling properties. However, natural tuber and root starches often suffer from limitations such as low thermal stability and high retrogradation tendency, which restrict their further applications. Ultrasound, a green and efficient non-thermal physical processing technique, avoids chemical reagent residues and minimizes thermal damage to the sensory and nutritional quality of products, demonstrating distinct advantages in starch modification. To expand the applications of root and tuber starches in food and pharmaceutical fields, this review systematically summarizes their structural and property characteristics, and then analyzes the effects of ultrasound on the multi-scale structure of starch and the resulting evolution of physicochemical properties and modification mechanisms. Furthermore, the intrinsic relationships between ultrasound-induced structural changes and processing characteristics, including thermodynamic, pasting, and rheological properties, are further discussed. By summarizing recent advances in ultrasound modification of root and tuber starches, this review provides a theoretical basis and practical reference for the application of non-thermal ultrasonic technology in the value-added processing of these starches.

Key words: ultrasound modification, tuber and root starch, multi-scale structure, functional property

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