Postharvest ripening of newly harvested corn: Weakened interactions between starch and protein

Nannan Hu; Weihua Qi; Jinying Zhu; Sheng Li; Mingzhu Zheng; Chengbin Zhao; Jingsheng Liu

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139450

Postharvest ripening of newly harvested corn: Weakened interactions between starch and protein

Food Chem. 2024 Apr 24:451:139450. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139450. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nannan Hu¹, Weihua Qi², Jinying Zhu³, Sheng Li⁴, Mingzhu Zheng³, Chengbin Zhao⁵, Jingsheng Liu⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China; School of Life Science, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Changchun, Jilin 130600, China; National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Corn Deep Processing, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China.
² School of Life Science, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Changchun, Jilin 130600, China.
³ College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China; National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Corn Deep Processing, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China.
⁴ College of Food Science and Engineering, Changchun University, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China.
⁵ College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China; National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Corn Deep Processing, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China. Electronic address: zhaochengbin1987@163.com.
⁶ College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China; National Engineering Research Center for Wheat and Corn Deep Processing, Changchun, Jilin 130118, China. Electronic address: liujingsheng@jlau.edu.cn.

PMID: 38670018
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139450

Abstract

The effects of postharvest ripening of corn on the mechanisms of starch and protein interactions were investigated using molecular dynamics and several chemical substances. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) treatment all significantly affected the starch content, molecular weight of proteins, relative crystallinity, pasting characteristics and dynamic viscoelasticity in samples before and after postharvest ripening. In the corn that had not undergone postharvest ripening, there were also significant electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds between starch and protein. In addition, molecular dynamics had demonstrated that the forces between starch and protein in corn were mainly hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic interaction, and hydrogen bonds. Compared with zein, corn glutelin was more tightly bound to starch. The binding energy of starch to both proteins was reduced in after postharvest-ripened corn. This study laid a rationale for investigating the change mechanism of corn postharvest ripening quality and improving processing property and edible quality of corn.

Keywords: Corn protein; Corn starch; Interaction mechanism; Molecular dynamics simulation; Ostharvest ripening.