*Article* **Effects of Betanin on Pasting, Rheology and Retrogradation Properties of Different Starches**

**Taotao Dai 1,2, Xiaohong He 3, Jiahui Xu 3, Qin Geng 3, Changhong Li 3, Jian Sun 1,2, Chengmei Liu 3, Jun Chen 3,\* and Xuemei He 1,2,\***


**Abstract:** As a natural pigment with high antioxidative activity, betanin is underutilized owing to less attention. This study aimed to investigate the impact of betanin on pasting, rheology and retrogradation properties of rice, potato and pea starches. Betanin decreased the peak, trough and final viscosity of rice and potato starches, but increased those of pea starch. Rheology measurements implied that betanin had the greatest effect on the hysteresis loops and dynamic modulus of potato starch. Betanin endowed starch pastes with a vivid red appearance and maintained the color of the starch pastes during storage. XRD analysis indicated that betanin weakened the diffraction intensities and reduced the crystallinity of the retrograded starches. Meanwhile, betanin reduced the short-range ordered structure of the retrograde starches. The results of DSC analysis found that betanin significantly depressed the retrogradation enthalpy and retrogradation rate, implying that the long-term retrogradation of starches was delayed. Furthermore, the changed morphology of the retrograded starches was observed. These results suggested that betanin could be applied as an excellent colorant and inhibitor of retrogradation in foods such as bread and pastry products.

**Keywords:** betanin; starch; gelatinization; rheology; retrogradation
