Structural and Functional Effects of Traditional Chuño Processing on Potato Starch (Solanum spp.)

Potato starch (Solanum spp.) undergoes structural and functional modifications during traditional Andean chuño production; however, the integrated effects of processing history, cultivar-associated characteristics, and field-based environmental conditions remain insufficiently characterised. This study investigated the effects of chuño processing on the compositional, pasting, morphological, molecular, and crystalline properties of starches isolated from three potato cultivars (Condor Imilla, Luk’i Turno, and Dutch Désirée). Native and chuño starches were characterised by amylose quantification, viscoamylography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), together with severe thermal treatment to evaluate structural stability. Chuño processing was associated with a reduction in amylose content across all cultivars (6.9–23.4%) and an increase in gelatinisation onset temperature of approximately 21.5% (from ~65 °C to ~79 °C). Peak viscosity decreased substantially after processing (457.5–1110 BU to 194.5–442.5 BU), while breakdown values remained close to zero, indicating increased resistance to viscosity loss during heating. SEM analysis revealed changes in granule morphology and size distribution associated with chuño processing and subsequent thermal treatment, with more pronounced reductions in granule size observed in Condor Imilla and Luk’i Turno than in Dutch Désirée. FT-IR analysis demonstrated modifications in short-range molecular organisation without the appearance of new functional groups, indicating structural reorganisation rather than chemical transformation. XRD analysis confirmed that all starches retained the native B-type crystalline polymorph after chuño processing, although reductions in diffraction intensity and peak definition indicated decreased long-range structural order. Severe thermal treatment eliminated detectable crystalline order in all samples, producing predominantly amorphous diffraction profiles. Overall, chuño processing was associated with reduced swelling capacity, lower paste viscosity, enhanced thermal stability, and multiscale structural reorganisation while preserving the fundamental B-type polymorph. Given that the plant material originated from distinct agroecological environments and that traditional chuño production involved a variable number of processing cycles, the observed differences should be interpreted as integrated responses of starch systems to processing history and material characteristics rather than strictly genotype-driven effects. These findings highlight the potential of chuño as a naturally modified starch system with distinctive technological properties.