The effect of pH on the chemical and structural interactions between apple polyphenol and starch derived from rice and maize

To date, how pH affects starch–polyphenol mixtures has not been thoroughly investigated. This study explored the impact of combining apple polyphenol (AP) with both normal rice starch (NRS) and normal maize starch (NMS) across a range of pH conditions. NRS–AP mixture particle sizes across a pH range of 3–8 varied from 169.9 ± 5.4 to 187.5 ± 6.9 μm, while for NMS–AP particles, these sizes ranged from 161.8 ± 8.0 to 176.0 ± 4.9 μm, indicating that the aggregation of starch–AP was inhibited under low pH condition. The melting enthalpy (△H) values of the NRS–AP mixture across a pH range of 3–8 were 8.50 ± 0.06–9.56 ± 0.12 J/g, while the corresponding value for the NMS–AP mixture was 5.77 ± 0.05–6.21 ± 0.08 J/g. FTIR analyses revealed that the degree of order of these starch–AP mixtures significantly decreased under low pH conditions. XRD analysis further revealed that both NRS–AP and NMS–AP mixtures exhibited V‐type structures, and relative crystallinity levels decreased significantly under low pH conditions. Together, these results indicate that low pH values inhibit the recrystallization of NRS–AP and NMS–AP mixtures. Overall, these findings provide additional evidence regarding the interactions between AP and specific starches under a range of pH conditions.