In the food industry, microwave-based curing and modification represent green, low-energy-consumption techniques for food processing, offering significant advantages. Water, a representative high-dielectric material, can react with many food components; however, few studies on microwave absorption to these components have been reported. In this study, commercially available potato starch and rice starch (the latter a representative cereal starch) were selected as the research materials. Based on vector network analysis of these materials, the bow coaxial probe and improved arch methods were used to study the dielectric properties and microwave reflection loss of the potato starch and rice starch systems, with different hydration levels, at 2.45 GHz. Their absorption behaviour was compared with the classical model to study the absorption properties of the starch systems under different hydration conditions. The results showed that at ambient temperature, potato starch and rice starch had similar dielectric responses, which both showed a steady rise with increasing water content. Therefore, because of their similar dielectric properties, the two systems behaved similarly in the microwave field. However, further experiments found that the microwave absorption properties of both starches differed significantly from that of water: starch–water systems with different compositions varied nonlinearly in their microwave absorption performance, consistently with the “true single layer of water” theory.

在食品工业中，基于微波的固化和改性代表了食品加工的绿色，低能耗技术，具有明显的优势。水是一种代表性的高介电材料，可以与许多食品成分发生反应。然而，很少有关于微波吸收这些成分的研究。在这项研究中，选择了商业上可获得的马铃薯淀粉和大米淀粉（后者是代表性的谷物淀粉）作为研究材料。在对这些材料进行矢量网络分析的基础上，使用弓形同轴探针和改进的弓形法研究了在2.45 GHz下不同水化水平下马铃薯淀粉和大米淀粉系统的介电性能和微波反射损耗。将其吸收行为与经典模型进行比较，以研究淀粉在不同水化条件下的吸收性能。结果表明，在室温下，马铃薯淀粉和大米淀粉具有相似的介电响应，随着水含量的增加，两者均呈现稳定上升的趋势。因此，由于它们的相似的介电特性，这两个系统在微波场中的表现相似。但是，进一步的实验发现，两种淀粉的微波吸收特性与水均存在显着差异：组成不同的淀粉-水系统的微波吸收性能呈非线性变化，这与“真正的单层水”理论一致。结果表明，在室温下，马铃薯淀粉和大米淀粉具有相似的介电响应，随着水含量的增加，两者均呈现稳定上升的趋势。因此，由于它们的相似的介电特性，这两个系统在微波场中的表现相似。但是，进一步的实验发现，两种淀粉的微波吸收特性与水均存在显着差异：组成不同的淀粉-水系统的微波吸收性能呈非线性变化，这与“真正的单层水”理论一致。结果表明，在室温下，马铃薯淀粉和大米淀粉具有相似的介电响应，随着水含量的增加，两者均呈现稳定上升的趋势。因此，由于它们的相似的介电特性，这两个系统在微波场中的表现相似。但是，进一步的实验发现，两种淀粉的微波吸收特性与水均存在显着差异：组成不同的淀粉-水系统的微波吸收性能呈非线性变化，这与“真正的单层水”理论一致。