Plasma-activated water assists non-covalent assembly and reduces the digestibility of jackfruit seed starch-gallic acid complexes.

Plasma-activated water (PAW) regulates the multi-scale structure and digestibility of jackfruit seed starch (JSS)-gallic acid (GA) complexes under hydrothermal conditions. PAW induced aggregation and porosity of starch granules at higher temperature and GA level. No new functional groups were observed, indicating that complexation was regulated through non-covalent interactions. The crystalline type of complexes transformed from A to B, whereas GA modulated structural ordering in a concentration-dependent manner. The relative crystallinity and short-range order increased at 5%GA but decreased at 10%GA. These structural changes were associated with improved thermal stability and viscoelasticity, restricted swelling power, and lower digestibility of complexes. Notably, the combination of PAW and hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C with 10%GA showed the lowest digestibility (41.345%) and the highest resistant starch content (78.832%). Overall, PAW can serve as an effective approach for promoting the non-covalent assembly of starch and polyphenols, offering a promising strategy for high-value utilization of JSS.