Deciphering the regulation effect of glucans with various molecular weight on wheat starch entanglement behavior: From microstructure to gel rheological and textural properties.

This study elucidated the regulation effects of glucans with different molecular weights (Mw) on wheat starch entanglement behavior and established an relationship between it and the gel properties. It was found that the glucan series regulate starch entanglement through distinct mechanisms, ultimately resulting in different gel properties. The results indicate that the Mw of exogenously added glucans shows a significant positive correlation with entanglement concentration (Ce, correlation coefficient, r = 0.75) and a negative correlation with concentrated solution concentration (C⁎⁎, r = -0.57). In addition, small molecule saccharides such as glucose reduce starch chain overlap mainly through water competition indicated by water distribution result, whereas macromolecular chains introduce additional topological constraints, reducing effective entanglement points. Entangled molecular weight (Me) and relative entanglement number (Z) were further utilized to quantify network topology. Notably, the addition of 70,000 Da dextran suppressed the relative growth of the Z value by 52% within its concentration gradient compared to the growth trend observed in native starch. A correlation between entanglement and gel properties was established. The Me exhibited a significant correlation with gel adhesiveness and resilience while Z highly correlated with gel hardness. Generally, Mw plays an important regulatory role in the gel texture properties at high entanglement degree.