The grinding process is one of the key factors affecting the quality of glutinous rice flour (GRF). As an emerging grinding method, semidry grinding aims to solve the problems of the high yield of wastewater in traditional wet grinding and the high content of damaged starch in dry grinding, in which the water content has a great influence on the quality of GRF. However, semidry grinding has not yet been formally put into production due to limitations such as the long time required to adjust the water content of rice grains. Therefore, this work was carried out to shorten the soaking time of glutinous rice (GR) by hot air pretreatment, and to conduct a systematic and in-depth study of the effect of water content on the quality of GRF, including water distribution, water hydration properties, thermal properties, rheological properties, and microstructure. The results showed that the GRF with higher water content had lower water solubility and higher enthalpy of pasting, which were due to the low content of damaged starch and the high degree of crystallization. The particle size of the GRF became smaller as the interaction between water and starch was enhanced and the GR was softened. In addition, the viscosity and elasticity of the GRF were also improved with an increase in water content. This work provides theoretical guidance for the improvement of semidry grinding to a certain extent.

Oat starch plays a crucial role in the stability of oat milk. Enzyme-hydrolyzed oat starch has been demonstrated to be an effective means of improving the stability of oat milk. The effects of different enzyme combinations on the stability of oat milk and the properties of starch in oats were investigated by adding α-amylase, amyloglucosidase, and different ratios of pullulanase and isoamylase. The results showed that as the degree of hydrolysis increased, the molecular weight, amylose content, and side chain length distribution of the starch decreased significantly. Moreover, compared with oat starch, the rheological and emulsifying properties of the starch hydrolysates were improved, and the characterization of emulsion stability showed that a 1:2 ratio of pullulanase to isoamylase promoted effective debranching and thus improved the stability of oat milk. This study demonstrated that debranching enzymes enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of beverages and improve the physicochemical properties and stability of oat milk.

Creatinine (Cre), a metabolite generated by muscles and kidneys, holds significant importance in clinical screening and detection of kidney disease. However, the existing clinical detection of Cre, such as the Jaffe reaction-based colorimetric method, requires complex sample pretreatment and is subject to interference in biological samples. Herein, a surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI-MS) method based on a donor–acceptor covalent organic framework (D–A COF) nanofilm as a substrate was proposed for Cre determination in human serum. The D–A COF nanofilm was synthesized using a solvothermal reaction on indium–tin–oxide (ITO)-coated glass plates, which featured uniform surfaces, good thermal stability, and excellent UV absorption. Compared with conventional organic matrices, the D–A COF nanofilm-based LDI-MS method showed low background interference and high MS response and was successfully used for the analysis of low-weight molecules, such as amino acids, bisphenols, and estrogens. On this basis, the D–A COF nanofilm-based LDI-MS method was developed for the determination of Cre in human serum. This method showed good linearity in the range of 14.0–750.0 μmol L⁻¹ with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 4.5 μmol L⁻¹, making it suitable for the determination of Cre in human serum with different concentration levels. This work demonstrates the potential of this method for the clinical determination of Cre in human serum and provides a new direction for the screening and determination of other small-molecule clinical markers.

The rapid expansion of the frozen glutinous rice dumpling (GRD) industry faces the challenge of quality deterioration caused by freeze–thaw cycles during product distribution. Pregelatinized starch has been reported to improve the freeze–thaw stability of starchy foods, but its effect on GRDs remains unclear. In this study, rice starch, which is widely available and low in cost, was used to prepare pregelatinized rice starch (PGRS) to enhance the quality and freeze–thaw stability of GRDs. The effect of adding 2–8% PGRS on GRD quality over 1, 3, and 5 freeze–thaw cycles was investigated using texture analysis, ultraviolet spectrophotometry, differential scanning calorimetry, rheometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that appropriate PGRS addition weakened an ordered gel structure, increased bound water content, improved microstructural stability, and reduced gelatinization enthalpy. Throughout testing, PGRS reduced cracking and water loss, enhanced textural properties, and increased soup transparency. This confirms that PGRS can serve as a functional ingredient for improving GRD quality and freeze–thaw stability, offering valuable insights for industrial production.