Corn fiber gum (CFG) was a novel arabinoxylan hydrocolloid and recent researches showed its considerable
potential in food processing. In this study, the interactions of maize starch and CFG were studied.
Maize starch/CFG blend gels were prepared from maize starch suspension mixing with 0.1%, 0.25%, 0.5%,
1.0% (w/w) CFG. The pasting and thermal properties, rheological properties, microstructure, leached
amylose and swelling power characteristics were evaluated. Compared with the reference, CFG addition
lowered peak viscosity and breakdown of the composite system, but increased final viscosity in
RVA measurement. The swelling power and the amount of leached amylose of maize starch gels were
reduced as the addition concentration of CFG increased. The thermal characteristics of maize starch/CFG
mixtures varied insignificantly as determined in DSC heating process. Rheological parameters, such as
storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G”), of the maize starches were observed to increase when CFG
was present, supporting the hypothesis that the interaction between CFG and amylose could happen in
the composite system. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) confirmed changes in gels microstructure
as starch components tended to be inhibited from leaching out of the granules when CFG was added,
and the morphology of starch granule was more compact when CFG was added.