Introduction: Polyphenol-rich sugarcane extract (PRSE) contains bioactive compounds with potential hypoglycemic properties, but its direct interaction with α-glucosidase has not been explored.Methods: This study investigated the inhibitory mechanism of PRSE on α-glucosidase using enzyme kinetics. Bioactive compounds with α-glucosidase-binding affinity were identified through biolayer interferometry-mass spectrometry (BLI-MS), and the binding mechanisms were further explored via molecular docking analysis.Results and discussion: PRSE was found to inhibit α-glucosidase through a mixed-type mechanism. A total of 29 compounds, including 4 coumarins, 9 phenolic acids, and 16 flavonoids, were identified in the PRSE dissociation solution. Representative compounds included coumarin, kaempferol, apigenin 7-o-neohesperidoside, and vicenin 3. Notably, apigenin 7-o-neohesperidoside and vicenin 3 were identified for the first time as potential α-glucosidase inhibitors.These compounds interacted with key residues of α-glucosidase, such as Asp and Glu, via hydrogen bonding, π-anion interactions, and hydrophobic forces. These findings suggest that PRSE could serve as a promising natural source of α-glucosidase inhibitors. The application of BLI-MS proved effective for screening target bioactive compounds in plant extracts. PRSE may have potential applications in functional foods for postprandial glycemic control and type 2 diabetes prevention.

The significant demand for medicinal plants with special efficacy has prompted us to adopt appropriate processing methods to enhance the nutritional quality and flavor of raw materials. This study evaluated the impacts of freeze-drying (FD), hot-air drying (HAD), and spray drying (SD) on the bioactive compounds, flavor characteristics, and inhibition of starch digestion in mulberry leaf ethanol extract (MLE). Results indicated that FDMLE exhibited the highest total alkaloids content (TAC: 0.14 ± 0.02 mg/g) and total flavonoid content (TFC: 19.32 ± 0.58 mg/g), along with significant inhibitory effects on starch hydrolysis at 180 min (starch hydrolysis rate <50%). The microstructure of HADMLE was closest to that of the mulberry leaf powder (ML), but SD better preserved the color of ML (ΔE = 1.55 ± 0.04). Combined with the electronic nose and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) found HAD processing facilitated the conversion of flavor precursors in ML into Ethyl formate, rose oxide, and (Z)-3-hexenol (M). SDMLE contained higher levels of pentanal, (E)-2-hexenal (D), (E)-2-pentanone, 3-Methyl-2-butenal (D), ethyl butyrate, and 1-penten-3-one (D). FDMLE exhibited the highest diversity of novel volatile compounds (VOCs), with 18 newly identified species. In conclusion, FD is a potential method to effectively reduce the degradation of quality and efficacy of MLE during the drying process.

This study explores the effects of three soluble dietary fibers (SDFs)—inulin, resistant dextrin, and stachyose—on the in vitro digestion of corn starch. Incorporation of SDFs significantly influences starch physicochemical properties by reducing swelling power, solubility, pasting viscosity, and breakdown, while increasing pasting temperature and particle size ( p < 0.05). During in vitro digestion, the presence of SDFs significantly decreased the rapidly digestible starch (RDS) content and increased the resistant starch (RS) content ( p < 0.05). Microscopic observations reveal that SDFs alter the microstructure of starch gels, enhancing the stability of the gel matrix. Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy suggests the formation of hydrogen bonds between SDFs and starch. Furthermore, SDFs exhibit glucose adsorption capacity and α‐amylase inhibitory activity, highlighting their multiple mechanisms in modulating starch digestion. The differential effects of SDFs depend on their molecular structure and physicochemical properties, such as chain length and hydroxyl group density. These findings offer new insights into the role of SDFs in modulating starch digestion and highlight their potential applications in designing low‐glycemic and fiber‐enriched functional foods.

Partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG), an enzymatic hydrolysate of guar gum (GG), confers various physiological benefits, including hypoglycemic effects and gut microbiota regulation. The molecular weight of PHGG is identified as a key determinant of the pasting properties of corn starch (CS). This study evaluated the effects of GG and PHGG with different molecular weights (34.66 kDa, 25.17 kDa, 14.71 kDa, and 8.93 kDa) on the physicochemical and digestion properties of CS. The results showed that GG increased the peak viscosity (PV), trough viscosity (TV), final viscosity (FV), apparent viscosity, dynamic moduli (G′ and G″), and mean volume (MV) of CS gel, but reduced its thermal stability. In contrast, PHGG demonstrated distinct effects by effectively inhibiting starch swelling and enhancing the thermal stability of the gel system. High-molecular-weight PHGG formed a gel characterized by larger, irregularly distributed honeycomb-like pores, which significantly reduced gel hardness (P < 0.05). Furthermore, with the reduction in PHGG molecular weight, the slowly digestible starch (SDS) content in the CS-PHGG gel decreased significantly, while the resistant starch (RS) content increased (P < 0.05). Multiple factor analysis (MFA) revealed strong correlations between the physicochemical properties and structural characteristics of the gels. These findings demonstrate that PHGG modulates starch gel properties, which may provide new insights for the design of starch-based foods with tailored nutritional or functional properties.

Soybean molasses, a by-product of alcohol-based soy protein concentrate production, is rich in stachyose and other functional oligosaccharides, but its high sucrose content and other fermentable non-target sugars hinder the efficient purification of stachyose. In this study, the sugar-utilization patterns of four commonly used microbial chassis or production strains, Escherichia coli W, E. coli BL21, Saccharomyces pastorianus Weihenstephan 34/70, and Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris) GS115, were systematically compared to identify a suitable host for selective stachyose enrichment. Among them, E. coli W showed the best performance in rapidly consuming non-target sugars while retaining stachyose. Based on this strain, a CRISPR–Cas9 engineering strategy was applied by deleting the endogenous α-galactosidase gene melA and overexpressing the sucrose permease gene cscB. The resulting strain selectively and nearly completely removed sucrose and other non-target sugars from soybean molasses, increasing the proportion of stachyose from 90% of total soluble solids. Further optimization of nitrogen source level, inoculum size, and initial °Brix improved fermentation performance. These results demonstrate an effective biological pre-purification strategy for selective stachyose enrichment from soybean molasses.