Morphological and Crystalline Properties of Starches from New Sources‐Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs)

Abstract In China, there are many starch‐rich Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) such as Fritillaria , Rhizoma Dioscorea Thunb., Pueraria Lobata Ohwi, Alisma Orientalis Juzep. and Polygonum Multiflorum Thunb. The low‐molecular weight bioactive ingredients present in these TCMs have been studied widely. However, starches are always ignored and discarded during the isolation of the small‐molecule active components, which results in large wastes of TCM resources. In order to understand and explore these new starches, the morphological and crystalline properties of starches from six TCMs have been evaluated. The starches differ in granular shape and size. The F. ussurensis Maxim. (FUM), F. cirrhosa D. Don. (FCD) and Rhizoma Dioscorea Thunb. (RDT) starches have larger granules than the other three TCM starches. Alisma Orientalis Juzep. (AOJ) starch possesses the smallest granules among the six starches. Polygonum Multiflorum Thunb. (PMT) starch has the lowest integrity of granule shape. RDT starch and Pueraria Lobata Ohwi (PLO) starches display the characteristics of typical C‐type diffraction pattern. FUM starch and FCD starch show typical B‐type diffraction pattern. AOJ and PMT starches have the strongest diffraction peaks at 17.8°, 20.1° and 27.4º which is indicative of an A‐type diffraction pattern.