Abstract:The gelatinization and rheological properties of Cyperus esculeutus starch were investigated by comparison with corn starch，and the changes in structure，thermal property，moisture shift and digestive property of the starch caused by cyclic heat treatment was explored. The results showed that C. esculeutus starch had smaller granules and stronger swelling ability compared with corn starch，showing higher peak viscosity，setback value and retrogradation value. The rheological property test indicated that the gel network structure formed by C. esculeutus starch had lower G′ and G″，weaker viscoelasticity and shear resistance，but stronger fluidity. After cyclic heat treatment，the gelatinization enthalpy，IR1 047 cm-1/1 022 cm-1，free moisture，slow-digesting starch and resistant starch of C. esculeutus starch were also significantly increased，and the corresponding increment was higher than those of corn starch under the same treatment conditions. Additionally，C. esculeutus starch demonstrated a large bright area under polarized light，while no such phenomenon was observed from corn starch，which suggested that the processed C. esculeutus starch had stronger retrogradation ability.The digestion results also revealed that，compared with corn starch，C.esculeutus starch had greater anti-digestive property，which might be due to the fact that its molecular chains tended to rearrange and form a more organized crystalline structure.