LWT - Food Science and Technology 163 (2022) 113531

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LWT
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lwt

Impacts of electron-beam-irradiation on microstructure and physical

properties of yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) flour
Gang Wang a, Dan Wang a, *, Chuan Qing a, Li Chen a, Peng Gao b, c, Min Huang b, c
a
College of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621010, Sichuan, PR China
b
Sichuan Institute Atomic Energy, Chengdu, 610101, Sichuan, PR China
c
Irradiation Preservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, 610101, Sichuan, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) flour was irradiated at doses of 1.79, 6.06, 10.07 and
Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) flour 14.97 kGy of the electron beam, to analyze the effects of electron beam irradiated (EBI) on the solubility,
Electron beam irradiation (EBI) transmittance, swelling, paste properties, and the microstructure of starch in yam flour. Results showed that EBI
Scanning electron micrographs (SEM)
degraded the starch component of yam flour, and presented an increase in solubility from 15.59 to 30.05%,
Relative crystallinity
Thermal property
transmittance from 8.11 to 11.63%, and a decrease in swelling from 9.59 to 7.26 g/g. Also, we observed that
there was a significant decrease in the paste properties of yam flour with the elevation of EBI. The scanning
electron micrographs and Fourier transforms infrared spectra further illustrated the effect of EBI on the mo­
lecular structure, but not the surface structure of starch in yam flour. C-type crystalline structure in yam starch
was also observed in both control and treatment, while irradiated yam starch had a lower crystallinity than that
of unirradiated treatments. Yam starch exhibited a decrease trend in their thermal property values with irra­
diation treatment. This study concludes that the physical properties of yam flour instructed by EBI may be used in
a wide application in the food and pharmaceutical industrie.

1. Introduction
The common yam species are grown worldwide and mainly include
Chinese yam, yellow yam, water yam, small yam (Zhu, 2015). Chinese
yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) is widely grown in the East and South
Asia region. It is characteried by the dried rhizome of Discordance
opposita, family Discordance, of which contains allantoin, flavonoids,
saponins, protein, fat, starch, and other medicinal and nutritional in­
gredients (Adebowale et al., 2018; Omohimi et al., 2017). The in­
gredients in yam flour aid the production of body fluids, digestion, and
stimulate immune function (Zhou et al., 2018). Yams, therefore, are
classified as homology of medicine and food in China. Generally, it is
usually processed into flour for further the processing of noodle or cake
food, despite that its application range is relatively finite (Zou et al.,
2020). The properties of yam starch specify the physicochemical prop­
erties of its products, as starch accounts for up to 60–70% of the dried
yam (Amani et al., 2004; Chen et al., 2017). Native yam starch has
limited functional properties, but modified specie is suitable for soft
foods such as making instant cream and pudding (Zhu, 2015). To expand
the application scope and properties of yam flour, it is necessary to
modify the yam starch to meet the requirements of the food industry or
as an isolated excipient and a matrix for drug delivery systems and
ophthalmic systems (Garcia et al., 2020).
To date, the three methods include the physical, chemical, and
enzymatic-the physical that has used to modify starches because they
are the highest efficiency and lowest cost (Wang et al., 2020). Physical
modification treatment embodies hydrothermal, microwave,
high-pressure homogenization, osmotic pressure, and ionization irradi­
ation (Das & Sit, 2021). Ionizing irradiation treatment can maximize the
original nutritional value and active ingredients of yam flour in a rela­
tively short period (Zhu, 2016). The various free radicals generated by
ionizing irradiation in starch-based systems can interact with starch and
water, leading to alterations in the dextrin product via radiation
decomposition (Zhu, 2016). Swelling of maize starch decreased signif­
icantly, with γ-irradiated doses of 2–50 kGy (Chung & Liu, 2009) Verma
et al. (2018) reported that the water absorption capacity of buckwheat
starch increased from 1.21 to 1.62 g/g, and potato starch from 84.10 to
93.24 g/g with increasing the γ-irradiated dose from 0 to 20 kGy.
Although numerous studies have shown that γ-ray irradiation is an
efficient way to modify starch, it is difficult for a wide use in practice due

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: wangdanxkd@163.com (D. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113531
Received 8 January 2022; Received in revised form 21 February 2022; Accepted 3 May 2022
Available online 6 May 2022
0023-6438/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
G. Wang et al.
to its high cost. In contrast, electron beam irradiation (EBI) has higher
safety, efficiency, and lower cost. However, there is few or no report on
the effect of EBI on microstructure and physical properties of yam flour.
The main objectives of this study were: (1) to provide a theoretical
basis for the application of modified yam flour in the food and phar­
maceutical industries; (2) to offer some explanations for the changes in
its physical properties; and (3) to broaden the application field of the
electron accelerator.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Electron beam irradiation treatment
Yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) slices were purchased from the Tong
Hua Toshiba ginseng and antler Trade Co., Ltd (Jilin, China). These
samples were ground into 80 mesh flour. Thereafter, 50 g of sieved yam
flour was vacuum sealed and flattened in a PE bag. The irradiation
treatments were performed by Chongqing Heng de Irradiation Tech­
nology Co., Ltd using a 20 kW/10 MeV electron accelerator. Yam flour
were irradiated at room temperature with a dose rate of 260 Gy/S,
which was also compared with that of the nonirradiated. Using silver
dichromate dosimeter determined their actual absorbed doses, of which
were 1.79, 6.06, 10.07, and 14.97 kGy, respectively.
2.2. Chemical composition content of yam flour
Moisture (GB 5009.3-2016), total ash (GB 5009.4-2016), crude
protein (GB 5009.5-2016), reducing sugar (GB 5009.7-2016), and crude
lipid (GB 5009.6-2016) content were determined according to national
standards of China. The contents of total starch, amylose, and amylo­
pectin were determined by DB32/T 2265-2012. The standards used for
the amylose and amylopectin content determination were purchased
from Aladdin Biochemical Technology Co. (Shanghai, China).
2.3. Color of yam flour
Color was determined using a portable computerized colorimeter
(NH300, 3NH Technology CO, Ltd, Shenzhen, China) after being stan­
dardized using a black and white plate standards and L.Its a and b values
were recorded. The total color difference E between the irradiated
sample and the native, calculated as
[ ]1/2
ΔE = (ΔL)2 + (Δa)2 + (Δb)2 (1)
2.4. Solubility and swelling of yam flour
Yam flour of 1 g (M) was blended with 50 ml of deionized water, and
then stirred at 25 ◦ C and 90 ◦ C for 30 min on a magnetic stirrer,
respectively. Subsequently, the mixture was centrifuged at 3000r/min
for 30 min. The supernatant was dried at 105 ◦ C to be weighed (M1).
Sediment in the centrifuge tube was swollen yam flour (M2). Solubility
and swelling were calculated from the equation given below:
Solubility ​ (%) = (M1 / ​ M) × 100 (2)
Swelling ​ (g / g) = (M2 / ​ M) (3)
2.5. Pasting properties of yam flour
Three g of yam flour specimen was mixed with 25.0 mL of distilled
water. Mixtures were measured by a rapid visco-analyzer (RVA
StarchMaster2TM, Newport Scientific Instrument Co, Australia). Peak
viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), breakdown
viscosity (BV=PV-TV), and setback viscosity (SV=FV-TV) were collected
using the Thermocline for Windows (TCW) software. The test procedure
was follows in Table 1.
2
LWT 163 (2022) 113531
Table 1
Paste performance test procedure of yam flour.
Steps Temperature or speed Time(min:s)
1 50 C
◦
00:00
2 960 r/min 00:00
3 160 r/min 00:10
4 50 ◦ C 01:00
5 95 ◦ C 04:42
6 95 ◦ C 07:12
7 50 ◦ C 11:00
8 50 ◦ C 13:00
2.6. Determination of light transmittance (%)
The concentration of 1% yam flour suspension was prepared by
heating at 90 ◦ C in a magnetic stirrer (DF-101S-SHANGHAI, CHINA) for
30 min. The suspensions were cooled at room temperature for 1 h and
then stored in a refrigerator at 4 ◦ C for 96 h. Transmittance was deter­
mined every 24 h by measuring absorbance at 640 nm against a water
blank with a UV-spectrophotometer (SPECORD 200 PLUS, Analytik,
Germany).
2.7. Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
To analyze the microstructure of starch, we extracted starch from
yam flour according to the method described by Zou & Yang (2020). The
FTIR spectra of yam starches under different irradiation treatment were
recorded by an FT-IR Spectrophotometer IR Spirit-T (SHIMADZU
EUROPA Gmbh, Kyoto, Japan) ambient temperature. Starch was mixed
with KBr powder (1:100) and pressed into tablets before measurement.
The spectra were recorded in the range of 400–4000 cm− 1 with a res­
olution of 4 cm− 1, using KBr as a blank for calibration.
2.8. Scanning electron microscopy analysis
Scanning electron micrograph of the yam starch was determined
using the modified method of Xue et al. (2017). In this study, field
emission scanning electron microscopy (SIGMA HD, Carl Zeiss AG.,
Germany) was used to observe the surface morphology of yam starch.
Starch granules were placed on a piece of adhesive tape attached to a
circular aluminum specimen room and coated with gold-palladium for
90 s under a 15-mA current using a Magnetron ion sputtering instrument
(SD-900M,Vision Precision Instruments Co. Ltd., China). The samples
were photographed at an accelerator potential of 2 kV. The morpho­
logical characteristics of starch were then studied using SEM micro­
graphs at 500 × , 1000 × , and 2000 × magnifications.
2.9. Determination of X ray diffraction
The XRD patterns of the yam starch under different irradiation doses
were determined by an X-beam diffractometer (X Pert pro, PANalytical
B.V., Netherlands). It was equipped with a pixel detector using CuKα and
operates at 40 mA and kV. The starch was analyzed between 2θ = 3–40◦
with a step interval of 0.033 and scan rate of 2◦ /min.
2.10. Differential scanning calorimetry
Three mg of starch was added to the aluminum pot, and followed by
20 μl of distilled water. The aluminum pot was placed into a differential
scanning calorimeter (DSC Q2000, TA Instruments, Inc., USA) to mea­
sure the thermal properties of yam starch with heating from 25 ◦ C to
100 ◦ C at 5 ◦ C/min with N2. The nitrogen flow rate was set to 50 mL/min
using a modification of Zhong et al. (2005). The instrument was cali­
brated with indium, and an empty aluminum pan was used as a refer­
ence. The starting temperature (To), peak temperature (Tp), ending
temperature (Tc), and enthalpy of gelation (ΔH) were calculated using
G. Wang et al. LWT 163 (2022) 113531

TA Universal Analysis software. 3.2. Determination color values of yam flour

Color values of yam flour under different irradiation doses are listed
2.11. Statistical analysis of data
in Table 3. The ‘L’ value representing ’brightness’ increased with
increasing irradiation dose. ‘L’ value of native and irradiated yam flour
All samples were analyzed in triplicate to get their mean value and
varied significantly (P < 0.05) from 15.03 to 22.96.
standard deviation (SD). Determination results were given as mean ± SD
The highest ‘L’ value was observed at 14.97 kGy in yam flour, but the
(n = 3). Statistical analyses were performed under ANOVA using SPSS
lowest value in native. The result was in agreement with the findings of
Statistics R.23.0 (IBM, New York, USA).
Wani et al. (2014), who found ‘L’ value of Indian horse chestnut starch
increased by γ-irradiation. Moreover, the ‘a’ value representing ‘red’
3. Results and discussion firstly decreased, but increased and further reached a maximum at 5
kGy, and then decreased. The ‘b’ value of yam flour was increased
3.1. Approximate ingredients of yam flour accordingly to a dose of 10 kGy, and then decreased. Similar results were
found by comparing natural potato starch with irradiated potato starch
The chemical compositions of EBI on yam flour from 0 to 14.97 kGy (Braşoveanu & Nemţanu, 2021). There were two potential reasons for
are shown in Table 2. Moisture, total ash, crude protein, reducing sugar, these results. The first possibility is that the caramelization reaction of
and crude lipid content of all yam flour was similar, but total starch, monosaccharides cleaved from yam flour polysaccharides under irra­
amylose and amylopectin was different (P < 0.05). The total starch of diation (Sofi et al., 2013). Second, there is the Maillard reaction between
yam flour increased from 66.34% in the native to 84.30% at 14.97 kGy, protein residues and sugars (Lee et al., 2003). The latter seems more
indicating that it was significantly affected by EBI. The amylose content convincing since little heat is generated by EBI.
of yam flour decreased with the irradiation dose. The amylose content in
the native yam flour was 25.09% and decreased gradually to 17.00% in 3.3. Solubility and swelling
the sample treated with 14.97 kGy. Similar results for amylose content
decreased for corn starches (Lee et al., 2013). This may be due to a Fig. 1 shows the results of the swelling and solubility for yam flour.
significant decrease in iodine binding capacity because of severe There was no significant difference in the solubility between unirradi­
degradation of the straight-chain starch fraction induced by radiation ated and irradiated yam flour at 25 ◦ C, but was still unchanged when
(Chung et al., 2010). In comparison, the opposite trend was observed in being irradiated from 0 kGy to 14.97 kGy. After heating at 90 ◦ C, the
the amylopectin content, which increased from 41.25% to 67.3% with results revealed that the solubility of irradiated yam flour increased by
increasing irradiation dose from 0.00 to 14.97 kGy. Yu and Wang (2007) 14.46% from 0 kGy to 14.97 kGy. Results revealed that the irradiated
reported the fracture or breakage of some long-branched chains in yam flour degraded more easily into soluble components during the
amylopectin during irradiation. This may be due to the increase in gelatinization process. This finding is consistent with that reported by
amylopectin content of yam flour after irradiation. Indeed, the color of Gani et al. (2012), finding the increased solubility induced by the irra­
the inclusion complex was produced by starch, and iodine was related to diation of kidney bean starch. After heating, some starch molecules in
the degree of polymerization (DP) or relative molecular mass (RMM) of the damaged yam flour particles will gelatinize and break down into
the starch. Irradiation may reduce the relative molecular weight of soluble dextrin and oligosaccharides (Xue et al., 2017). Thus, solubility
starch and increase the detection value of amylopectin content under of yam flour increases. The swelling of yam flour decreased after being
ultraviolet light. The decrease in the molecular size of amylose in irra­ irradiated by an electron beam. When the irradiation dose increased
diated (0.5–9 kGy) white rice was monitored by high-performance from 0 kGy to 14.97 kGy, the swelling of the yam flour decreased from
size-exclusion chromatography (Bao et al., 2005). Similarly, Chung & 9.59 to 7.26 g/g. Gani et al. deem that swelling depends on the ability of
Liu. (2010) also found that the ratio of short (DP 6–12) amylopectin the starch molecules to combine water in their structure through
chains of potatoes and beans starch increased with increasing γ-irradi­ hydrogen-bond. Once the starch has degraded under irradiation, its
ation dose, but medium (DP 13–24) decreased. These findings support combined water ability reduces. Similarly, Ashwar et al. (2014) pointed
our point in this area linking irradiation reduction in RMM or DP with an out a decrease in the swelling index, which may be related to a high
increase in amylopectin detection value by irradiation. reduction in amylopectin with irradiation since the amylopectin fraction
is primarily responsible for swelling. This is in contrast to our findings,
Table 2 despite that there was no evidence to explain the difference. The
Chemical constituent content in yam flour treated by different electron beam swelling decreased after irradiation in both potato and bean starches
irradiation doses. (Chung & Liu. 2010). Meanwhile, the proportions of short (DP 6–12) and
Paramater Irradiation dose (kGy) long (DP ≥ 37) amylopectin chains increased with increasing irradiation
0.00 1.79 6.06 10.07 14.97 dose, and DP 13-24 decreased, as being reported by Chung and Liu
(2010). It would be that there is a link between swelling and chain
Moisture (%) 14.89 ± 14.44 ± 14.67 ± 14.89 ± 15.33 ±
0.51 0.84 0.88 1.34 0.34 length distribution of branched chain starch. This remarkable difference
Ash (%) 1.70 ± 1.70 ± 1.66 ± 1.64 ± 1.65 ± could have a number of plausible explanations that may need to further
0.14 0.14 0.04 0.02 0.08 study.
Protein (%) 2.70 ± 2.88 ± 2.45 ± 2.41 ± 2.91 ±
0.21 0.68 0.27 0.16 0.65
Reducing sugar 0.21 ± 0.22 ± 0.18 ± 0.21 ± 0.22 ±
3.4. Pasting properties of yam flour
(%) 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.08
Lipid (%) 3.80 ± 3.82 ± 3.70 ± 3.78 ± 3.72 ± The pasting properties at different EBI doses are presented in Fig. 2,
0.12 0.81 0.85 0.13 1.28 and the relevant parameters are shown in Table 3. EBI decreased
Total starch 66.34 ± 68.00 ± 78.38 ± 76.28 ± 84.30 ±
significantly the pasting properties (peak, trough, final, setback, and
(%) 2.41b 5.07b 1.76a 6.51a 2.11a
Amylose (%) 25.09 ± 17.27 ± 19.32 ± 17.86 ± 17.00 ± breakdown) of yam flour. Peak viscosity (PV) and breakdown viscosity
0.52a 3.30bc 4.19abc 2.02bc 5.96c (BV) of yam flour decreased from 1876.33 to 1094.33 cP and 841.00 to
Amylopectin 41.25 ± 50.73 ± 59.07 ± 58.43 ± 67.30 ± 675.67 cP, respectively, as the dose increased from 0 to 14.97 kGy.
(%) 2.88c 7.92bc 3.04 ab 8.26 ab 6.59a Moreover, trough (TV), final (FV), and setback viscosity (SV) decreased
*Results are presented as the means ± SD (n = 3). The different lowercase letters from 1035.33 to 418.67 cP, 1476.00 to 635 cP, and 440.33 to 216.33 cP,
indicate significant differences at 0.05 level. respectively. Fan (2016) discussed 15 different sources of starch whose

3
G. Wang et al. LWT 163 (2022) 113531

Table 3
Color, Pasting properties and thermogravimetric analysis of yam powder by different electron beam irradiation.
Irradiation dose (kGy)

0.00 1.79 6.06 10.07 14.97

L 15.03 ± 0.17e 15.63 ± 0.05d 16.26 ± 0.05c 19.50 ± 0.02b 22.96 ± 0.10a
a 3.02 ± 0.21b 2.59 ± 0.11c 3.30 ± 0.06a 2.53 ± 0.06c 1.99 ± 0.07d
b 5.82 ± 0.14d 6.01 ± 0.07c 7.34 ± 0.08b 7.64 ± 0.01a 7.41 ± 0.08b
ΔE – 0.79 ± 0.25d 1.98 ± 0.08c 4.85 ± 0.12b 8.15 ± 0.08a
PV (cP) 1876.33 ± 32.08a 1706.00 ± 71.76b 1536.00 ± 37.72c 1355.33 ± 58.59d 1094.33 ± 23.01e
TV (cP) 1035.33 ± 20.65a 896.33 ± 20.60b 698.33 ± 13.28c 567.00 ± 26.06d 418.67 ± 12.50e
FV (cP) 1476.00 ± 47.82a 1262.33 ± 59.07b 1008.33 ± 19.63c 826.00 ± 40.11d 635.00 ± 14.00e
BV (cP) 841.00 ± 16.64a 809.67 ± 67.72a 837.67 ± 36.69a 788.33 ± 32.87a 675.67 ± 12.74b
SV (cP) 440.33 ± 27.74a 366.00 ± 57.66b 310.00 ± 17.34bc 259.00 ± 15.72cd 216.33 ± 10.21d
To (◦ C) 65.49 ± 0.14c 65.86 ± 0.05 ab 65.74 ± 0.07b 66.02 ± 0.06a 65.78 ± 0.16b
Tp (◦ C) 69.17 ± 0.12a 69.31 ± 0.16a 69.05 ± 0.15 ab 69.22 ± 0.12a 68.88 ± 0.13b
Tc (◦ C) 89.37 ± 1.12a 86.43 ± 0.66b 83.60 ± 0.74c 83.41 ± 0.85c 79.09 ± 0.78d
ΔH(J/g) 11.51 ± 0.18a 11.14 ± 0.11b 10.94 ± 0.28b 9.74 ± 0.10c 9.11 ± 0.46d

*Results are presented as the means ± SD (n = 3). The different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at 0.05 level.

pasting properties decreased after γ-irradiation. The decrease in PV is a

result of the degradation of the amorphous region of starch, which in­
dicates a decrease in the water-binding capacity of yam starch (Gani
et al., 2016). This is consistent with the results of the swelling of yam
flour. BV is calculated from the difference between PV and TV. It mea­
sures the degree of the disintegration of swollen granules (Kumar et al.,
2017). The lower BV indicates that the sample experienced a lower
degree of swelling followed by disintegration. The interaction between
the polymer chains in the original amorphous and crystalline regions
makes the starch more stable (Allan, Chamberlain, & Mauer, 2020).
However, after EBI treatment, it does not require more heat for struc­
tural disintegration and pastes formation, thereby reducing the FV and
the BV (Van Hung et al., 2017). The SV was largely due to the reordering
of the amylose (Balet et al., 2019). Thus, the decrease in the pasting
properties can be attributed to the irradiation-induced starch degrada­
tion. It may be concluded that food containing EBI yam flour has a softer
texture.

3.5. Effect of EBI on the light transmittance of yam flour

Fig. 1. Solubility and swelling of yam flour under different irradiation doses.
Note: all values represent means ± SD (n = 3). Different lower-case letters
indicate that the difference between the two samples at 25 ◦ C is significant (p <
0.05), upper case letters indicate the significant difference at 90 ◦ C, and (let­
ters) indicate the significant difference in swelling.
The transparency of a gel is important in food and industrial appli­
cations because it affects the quality of the product, especially its
appearance and attractiveness. Fig. 3 shows the effect of cold preser­
vation at 4 ◦ C on the light transmittance of different irradiation doses of

Fig. 2. Pasting properties of yam flour under different irradiation doses.

Fig. 3. Paste clarity of yam flour under different irradiation doses.

4
G. Wang et al.
yam flour gel. The results showed that the light transmittance was
closely related to the dose of irradiation. The transmission of yam gel
was increased significantly, as the dose increased from 0 to 14.97 kGy.
The increase of light transmittance of irradiated yam gel showed that the
transparency of yam gel was higher. This may be due to the decompo­
sition of starch molecules and the formation of low molecular weight
fragments (Sofi et al., 2013; Singh et al., 2006). Ashwar et al. (2014)
reported that the increase in light transmission of starch gel may be due
to the introduction of carboxyl that holds back water molecules through
hydrogen bonds, increasing the transparency of the gel. In addition, the
light transmittance of the irradiated yam gel is greater than that of the
unirradiated yam gel, after the same storage time. After 24 h, the light
transmission decreased most noticeably. Similar results were found by
Gani et al. (2012), where the light transmission of starch gel from
γ-irradiated red, yellow, black, and white beans all decreased with
increasing storage time. The transparency of gel decreases with
increasing storage time, which can be attributed to the aggregation and
slow recrystallization of amylopectin, whereby the transparency of the
starch is reduced to different degrees (Gani et al., 2013).
3.6. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis
FTIR analysis was performed in this study to determine the effect of
EBI on the main functional groups of yam flour. As shown in Fig. 4,
different FTIR spectrum results were provided by samples processed
with different doses. Strong absorption peaks were observed in the
4000-400 cm− 1 range, suggesting that there are hydrogen-containing
groups (XH), triple bond and cumulative double bond stretching vi­
bration, double bond stretching vibration, and CH bending vibration
(Xue et al., 2017). A broad infrared absorbance peak was observed in the
3700-3000 cm− 1 range, indicating that there were stretching vibration
peak of the hydroxyl group. The peak intensity of this peak position
increased, suggesting that the EBI broke the bonded hydrogen bonds of
some yam starch molecules, resulting in an increase in the number of
–OH groups. Similar results were observed for corn starches at the dose
of 4.3 kGy (Yu et al., 2021). Indeed, glycosidic bonds can generate new
–OH groups when it is broken. Thus, EBI may cause the degradation of
starch. The hydroxyl groups are hydrophilic groups, which is consistent
with the increased solubility results. FTIR spectra also revealed that the
absorption peak at 2920 cm− 1 was caused by the stretching vibration of
the C–H bond in the glucose molecule (Kumar et al., 2017). In the range
of 2480-2000 cm− 1, the spectrum of EBI-treated yam flour differed from
that of untreated samples. Two additional absorption peaks were
observed at 2400-2300 cm− 1. This region corresponds to unsaturated
Fig. 4. Fourier transform infrared spectra of yam starches under different
irradiation doses.
5
LWT 163 (2022) 113531
olefin bonds, indicating that the yam flour produced unsaturated radi­
cals after EBI. As shown in the infrared spectrum, the absorbance of the
EBI-treated sample at 1240-900 cm− 1 was higher than that of the un­
treated sample. This indicates that the irradiated sample contains more
C–O–C than native yam starch. This may be explained by the fact that
the breaking of glycosidic bonds and the degradation of starches. These
differences indicate that EBI treatment can change the molecular
structure of yam starch.
3.7. SEM micrograph analysis
The morphology and surface characteristic of the native yam starch
and the yam starch pre-treated by EBI are shown in (Fig. 5). The SEM
results showed that yam starch granules were made up of oval compo­
sition of uneven size. After EBI, the yam starch granules were visually
the same as the unirradiated yam starch granules, and the yam starch
treated by EBI retained the original shape and size. In addition, the
surface of the irradiated yam starch particles did not show any particle
cracks or depression. Maize powder did not display any visible physical
change up to a 500 kGy dose was (Liu, Ma, Xue, & Shi, 2012). Onehabu,
Gyebiduodu, and Minnaar (2006) also reported no evidence of physical
damage to cowpea starch granules irradiated at 50 kGy using SEM. It
shows that the radiation damage of starch granules may only exist in the
form of changes in the molecular structure of starch. Chung and Liu
(2010) suggested that the irradiation dose causes a significant surface
damage, but it appears to depend on the source of the starch. Therefore,
the dose range of 0–14.97 kGy may have influenced our results. Future
studies could use higher irradiation doses to observe changes in surface
morphology.
Fig. 5. SEM microphotographs of yam flour granules by different irradiation
doses. Note: Figure numbered A, B, C, D and E were the microphotograph of
yam flour granules irradiated by 0.00, 1.79, 6.06, 10.07 and 14.94 kGy,
respectively; Figure numbered 1, 2 and 3 were respectively taken at 500 × ,
1000 × and 2000 × magnification.
G. Wang et al. LWT 163 (2022) 113531

3.8. Crystallinity of yam starch

The X-ray diffraction patterns of yam starch at different irradiation

doses are shown in Fig. 6. The starch crystalline structure can be
generally classified into A, B, and C types, depending on the arrange­
ment of the amylopectin side chains into double helices (Apostolidis &
Mandala, 2020; Li et al., 2020). Peaks were observed at 2θ = 5.5, 15,
17.7, and 23.48, indicating that the X-ray diffraction pattern of yam
starch was a typical C-shaped diffraction pattern (Zhang et al., 2012).
Compared to native yam flour, the diffraction pattern of irradiated yam
flour did not change significantly. It can be seen that the irradiation dose
of 0–14.97 kGy did not change the crystalline type of yam starch.
However, the crystallinity of yam starch decreased with increasing
irradiation dose from 23.71% to 20.17%. Similar results were found in
bean starch (Chung & Liu, 2010). Ciesla et al. (1991) reports that the
decrease in the relative crystallinity of potato starch after irradiation
was due to the destruction of the long-term ordered structure of the
starch grain crystals and amorphous regions. Furthermore, crystallinity
can be also affected by factors such as crystal size, number of crystal
regions, amylopectin content, average amylopectin chain length, and
the orientation sequence of amylopectin double helix (Zou & Yang
Fig. 6. X-ray diffraction patterns and relative crystallinity of yam starches and
2020).
under different irradiation doses.

3.9. Thermal properties of yam starch

Table 3 showes the effect of irradiation on the starting temperature
(To), peak gelatinization temperature (Tp), final temperature (Tc), and
enthalpy of gelation (ΔH) of yam starch. Both Tp and Tc significantly
decreased with the increase of irradiation dose from 69.17 to 68.88 ◦ C
and 89.37 to 79.09 ◦ C, respectively. Similar results have been reported
for cross-linked waxy maize starches (Chung & Liu, 2010). Both To and
Tc determined the boundaries of the different phases in a
semi-crystalline material like starch (Wani et al., 2012). Also, ΔH
decreased from 11.51 to 9.11 J/g, with increasing EBI dose. Kumar et al.
(2017) reported similar results for brown rice starch, where ΔH
decreased from 7.37 to 3.01 J/g with increasing dose of γ-irradiation.
Peak temperature represents the crystallinity quality starch of yam,
while enthalpy indicates the overall crystallinity of the starch (Kumar
et al., 2017). The gel temperature of the yam powder became lower after
irradiation, indicating that the starch crystals became less stable, sug­
gesting that more heat was not needed to make the starch gel. The results
are in agreement with the crystallinity determination by X-ray
diffractometry.
4. Conclusions
The chemical composition content of yam flour was not altered with
increasing the irradiation dose from 0 to 14.97 kGy, except for starch.
The effects of EBI on the microstructure of yam starch were manifested
in the degradation of molecular structure and the decrease of crystal­
linity. This led to a change in the physical properties of the yam flour.
The specific performance had a significant increase in the solubility and
light transmission of the yam flour, but a significant decrease in the
paste ability and swelling. The obtained properties could be widely used
in various fields of applications in the future. In particular, EBI is a
simple and effective modification that imparts special physical proper­
ties to starch. Noteworthy, the color value of the irradiated yam flour
was changed, which may affect its economic value. Future studies can be
conducted for color protection.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Gang Wang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation,
Writing – original draft. Dan Wang: Supervision. Chuan Qing: Visual­
ization, Investigation. Li Chen: Reviewing and Editing. Peng Gao:
Validation. Min Huang: Project Management.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
We appreciated the financial support from Major science and tech­
nology projects in Sichuan Province Science and Technology Depart­
ment (2019ZDZX0003).
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