Functional and Pharmaceutical Properties of Physically and Chemically Modified Rice Bean (Vigna umbellata) Starches
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authorssee the file
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Comment 1: page 1-2, lines 40-43: 20 % - is not relatively high amylose content, it is also not higher than the amylose content in potato starch
Response 1: The average AC reported for rice bean was approximately 35% (20-60% was the lowest and the highest values; but most studies reported 30-40%), which was relatively high compared to other commercial starches, including potato starch (reported range 17-24%). The change has been made to this statement in the introduction.
Comment 2: page 3, line 90: slight modifications. rice bean seeds → slight modifications. Rice bean seeds
Response 2: Thank you for pointing this out. The word “rice” has been changed to “Rice” on Page 3 line 91.
Comment 3: page 3, lines 111-112: dried to induce phosphorylation? What was the pH of the reaction?
Response 3: Thank you for pointing this out. The word “dried” was changed to “dry heating” to reflect the actual procedure and intention. The pH of the reaction was 6. This was also added to the text on Page 3 line 111-112.
Comment 4: page 3, line 118: additional 2-propanol. rice bean starch → additional 2-propanol. Rice bean starch
What was the reagent? NaOH?
Response 4: Thank you for pointing this out. The word “rice” has been changed to “Rice”. The reagent was 50 ml of 30% (w/v) NaOH (Page 3 line 121-123).
Comment 5: Complete the formulas to calculate solubility and swelling power.
Response 5: The formulas to calculate solubility and swelling power have been added (Page 4, Line 171-173)
Comment 6: page 6, line 238: PGRBS granules – complete also the name without abbreviation; page 6, line 242: CLRBS - complete also the name without abbreviation
Response 6: Thank you for pointing this out. The complete names for PGRBS and CLRBS were added before their abbreviations (Page 6 line 252 and 256).
Comment 7: 3.3. X-ray Diffraction. Figure 4. - Could the lines be bolder?
Response 7: The lines of XRD diffractograms (Figure 3) were already bold, so it is assumed that the reviewer meant Figure 4 (FT-IR). The plots were reprocessed using original data to make the lines bolder. This is now Figure 3 on Page 8-9, line 346-359.
Comment 8: Figure 5: axis y: Hardness
Response 8: The axis name has been corrected.
Comment 9: Reviewers must not recommend citations of work by themselves – please delete references 17 & 19
Response 9: References 17 and 19 were deleted. A new reference has been added for the statement in the introduction.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn this study, the effects of physical (pre-gelatinization) and chemical modification (phosphorylation and carboxymethylation) on the native starches extracted from rice beans have been studied. The results showed that the modifications had impact on the structure, morphology and chemical properties of native starches, which made rice bean starch have the potential to be used in drugs and foods. However, there are several points that need further clarification before going ahead. See comments below:
- Some modification and testing methods have no references. Are these the methods created in this study?
- Line 225-226: Why the amylose content is much lower in this work?
- Figure 2. Where is Figure 1?
- Line 265-294: The relative crystallinity value of the starch samples should be added.
- Line 379-383. According to the results in Table 1, the OAC of PGRBS decreased, and the OAC of CLRBS increased. Why?
- Line 388: The table 4 should be table 2.
- Line 400-411: The interpretation does not correspond to the RS values in Table 2. Why?
- Figure 5, Misspelling of ordinate names.
Author Response
Comment 2.1: Some modification and testing methods have no references. Are these the methods created in this study?
Response 2.1: The references have been added for the modification and testing methods that were derived from other studies. Those without references were either designed for this study or followed the methods described in authors’ previous reports. These have been omitted from the reference list by one of the reviewer’s comments, presumably to avoid self-citation(?).
Comment 2.2: Line 225-226: Why the amylose content is much lower in this work?
Response 2.2: The amylose content in rice beans can vary depending on genotype, environmental conditions, and extraction methods (line 42-43). Our study also used the concanavalin method for determination of amylose content. The method is known to be specific to amylose and generally gives a value that is 10-15% lower than the value from iodine colorimetry. Basically, our reported value of 27.5% would be equivalent to 30.2-31.6% if iodine colorimetry was used.
Comment 2.3: Figure 2. Where is Figure 1?
Response 2.3 Thank you for pointing this out. The figure numbers were errant. There are four (4) figures in the manuscript and the figure numbers have been corrected, with the corresponding text also corrected.
Comment 2.4: Line 265-294: The relative crystallinity value of the starch samples should be added.
Response 2.4 The degree of crystallinity of the starch samples was determined. The method (Page 4, line 144-148) and the results (Page 7, line 309-310) were added to the respective sections.
Comment 2.5: Line 379-383. According to the results in Table 1, the OAC of PGRBS decreased, and the OAC of CLRBS increased. Why?
Response 2.5 For CLRBS, phosphate group incorporation may induce steric effects within the starch chains, creating additional space and fine capillary structures that accommodated greater oil uptake (line 406-409). For PGRBS, the disruption of the crystalline structure of starch upon pregelatinization caused the granules to become less ordered and more susceptible to water uptake, resulting in an increased solubility and water-holding capacity while lowering the ability to absorb oil (line 409-412).
Comment 2.6: Line 388: The table 4 should be table 2.
Response 2.6: Thank you for pointing this out. The typo has been corrected (Line 417).
Comment 2.7: Line 400-411: The interpretation does not correspond to the RS values in Table 2. Why?
Response 2.7: The RS value of 11.31 in Table 2 was correct. The number in the text (12.76) was a typo and has been corrected. Other numbers have been rechecked and confirmed.
Comment 2.8: Figure 5, Misspelling of ordinate names.
Response 2.8: The ordinate name in Figure 4 (previously Figure 5) has been corrected.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors- Abstract: The numerical results are suggested to be provided.
- Introduction: The numerical results of the referenced research are suggested to be provided.
- Why are the reaction conditions for the modified starch? Because the properties of the modified samples are depend on the degree of
- Is the result of proximate analysis dry basis or wet basis? What is about 10% left except carbohydrate, protein, ash and fat.
- It is suggested that the diffractograms were recorded from less than 5°for B-type crystalline.
- The amount of short-range ordering of the samples determined by FT-IR could be provided.
- Conclusions:The numerical results based on are suggested to be provided.
Author Response
Comment 3.1: Abstract: The numerical results are suggested to be provided.
Response 3.1: The numerical results are included in the abstract.
Comment 3.2: Introduction: The numerical results of the referenced research are suggested to be provided.
Response 3.2: The numerical results of the referenced research have been added.
Comment 3.3: Why are the reaction conditions for the modified starch? Because the properties of the modified samples are depend on the degree of
Response 3.3: The reaction conditions are provided in the methods for each modified starch.
Comment 3.4: Is the result of proximate analysis dry basis or wet basis? What is about 10% left except carbohydrate, protein, ash and fat.
Response 3.4: The proximate analysis was carried out on the powder of rice bean seeds as received, without additional drying. The moisture content of the powder was determined to be 10.47% (Table 1, Line 361), while the rest (89.5%) was the summary of carbohydrate, protein, ash and fat.
Comment 3.5: It is suggested that the diffractograms were recorded from less than 5°for B-type crystalline.
Response 3.5: The instrument used in this study, a Siemen D500 XRD, has a lower 2θ limit of 4°. Users are cautioned against rotating below 5° 2θ to prevent the stage from blocking the beam. We do not currently have access to an instrument capable of scanning below 3° 2θ. So while it is understood that the record diffractogram at low angle (2-5 ° 2θ) will be useful for confirming the B-type crystalline, we hope that the provided data (line 280-281: the overlapping peaks in the 17°–18° range, along with a notable shoulder near 20°) can adequately be used to suggest the C-type (A+B) crystalline pattern.
Comment 3.6: The amount of short-range ordering of the samples determined by FT-IR could be provided.
Response 3.6: The amount of short-range ordering of the samples has been determined by calculating the ratio of peaks 1047/1022 cm-1 (line 153-156) and the results are included and discussed (Line 332-336)
Comment 3.7: Conclusions: The numerical results based on are suggested to be provided.
Response 3.7: The numerical results are included in the rewritten conclusions.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors responded to the comments and made the necessary revisions. No more questions.
Author Response
Comment: The authors responded to the comments and made the necessary revisions. No more questions.
Response: Thank you very much for your advice on improving the manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript would be accepted after the improved discussion of current situation and progress of properties of modified bean starches.
Author Response
Comment : The manuscript would be accepted after the improved discussion of current situation and progress of properties of modified bean starches.
Response : Thank you very much for your comment. The discussion of current situation and progress of properties of modified rice bean starches has been included in the revised manuscript (Page 11, line 430-445).
