Effect of Microwave Irradiation Assisted With Pre‐Acidification on the Molecular Structure and Emulsification Properties of Quinoa Starch

To improve the environmental sustainability and production efficiency of starch-based stabilizers in Pickering emulsions, quinoa starch (QS) was acidized using hydrochloric acid solutions and subsequently treated with microwave dry heating. The structural and emulsifying properties of the modified starch samples were analyzed. The combination of acidization and microwaving significantly reduced the particle size (to 132.85 nm) and molecular weight (Mn to 63.50 kDa) while increasing the contact angle (to 44.40° while increasing the contact angle (to 44.40ticle size (to 132.ze (to 132.h microw15 mL acid solution followed by 18 min microwaving (ATS15-M18) showed no visible creaming after 30 d of storage. Microstructure and droplet size distribution manifested that the emulsion emulsified by ATS15-M18 had the smallest average droplet size (35.24 µm) with dense droplet packing and no starch sedimentation. These indicate that microwaving combined with pre-acidizing is an efficient strategy for enhancing the emulsifying capacity of starch. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: This innovative method for preparing nanostarch is both efficient and sustainable. Pre-acidification aggravated the starch-chain degradation for microwave irradiation. Nanostarch produced in this work can effectively stabilize Pickering emulsions.