Effect of Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) Extracts on the Physicochemical Properties of Wheat Starch Pastes and Gels Stored Under Refrigerated Conditions

Wheat starch is among the most widely used ingredients in food products. Adding phytochemicals to wheat starch-based foods impacts their properties during processing and influences their quality during storage. This research aimed to investigate the impact of aqueous extract from chokeberry fruits on pasting and textural properties of starch pastes/gels. The extracts from chokeberry with different total extract content (0 and 7 °Brix) were obtained and applied at various doses (10, 20, and 30% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) as a natural additive to the 5% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) wheat starch suspension. Furthermore, the obtained starch gels with chokeberry extracts were stored for 14 days at 4 °C. The pasting characteristic process showed that wheat starch pastes containing chokeberry extracts (0 and 7 °Brix) had a higher tendency towards retrogradation. Moreover, the results of the texture analysis confirmed this observation because the hardness values of the wheat starch gels with chokeberry extracts were higher compared to starch gels without the extract (during their 14-day storage). On the other hand, the stability of the gels during storage was also determined by the form of the extract used. The course of changes in hardness values observed during storage indicated that the sugar contained in the extract contributed to smaller fluctuations in these changes. Such observations are important from the point of view of designing starch-based gels that are subjected to storage under refrigerated conditions.