Rice and quinoa starch esters were prepared by acylation using short-chain fatty acid anhydrides with different chain lengths (acetic, propionic, and butyric anhydride). A direct stoichiometric method based on the acylation reaction was used to determine the degree of substitution (DS) and acyl content (AC). In addition, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to validate the conformational changes of acylated starch and ¹H-NMR was used as a DS reference method. DS by stoichiometric calculation was shown to be in agreement with FTIR and was comparable with DS obtained from Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR). Based on this study, stoichiometric calculation allows rapid and direct determination of substitution levels and acyl content without the loss of samples, which provides efficiency and optimization of manufacturing procedures in producing the desired level of esterified starches.

Acetylated, propionylated and butyrylated rice and quinoa starches at different levels of modification and starch concentrations, were used to stabilize oil-in-water starch Pickering emulsions at 10% oil fraction. Short-chain fatty acid modified starch Pickering emulsions (SPEs) were characterized after emulsification and after 50 days of storage. The particle size distribution, microstructure, emulsion index, and stability were evaluated. An increase in starch concentration led to a decrease of emulsion droplet sizes. Quinoa starch has shown the capability of stabilizing Pickering emulsions in both the native and modified forms. The emulsifying capacity of SPEs was improved by increasing the chain length of SCFA. Modified quinoa starch with higher chain lengths (i.e. propionylated and butyrylated), at higher levels of modification, showed higher emulsion index (>71%) and stability over the entire 50 days storage. At optimized formulation, SCFA-starch particles have the potential in stabilizing emulsions for functional foods, pharmaceutical formulations, or industrial food applications.