Food properties affecting the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates Carbohydrate foods differ considerably in their effects on postprandial

glucose and insulin responses. Qualitative differences among starchy foods are particularly intriguing because of the dominance of starch in human diets. Studies in healthy subjects have found that postprandial blood glucose and insulin responses are greatly affected by food structure. Any process that disrupts the physical or botanical structure of food ingredients will increase the plasma glucose and insulin responses. The rate of starch digestion in vitro was shown to be a key determinant of metabolic responses to most products. Assuming the sample preparation mimics chewing, in vitro enzymic procedures can be used to facilitate ranking. Carbohydrate foods differ considerably in their effects on blood glucose and hormonal responses after a meal . It has been shown that low-glycemic-index, or lente, diets improve metabolic variables not only in diabetes , andhyperhipidemia but also in healthy subjects. Meals characterized by lente components have also been reported to prolong the duration of satiety, suggesting a preventive role in the genesis of obesity. These reports indicate that it is important to consider not only the quantity but also the quality of carbohydrates in foods. Several food factors that may be responsible for the differences in glucose and insulin responses have been suggested. Food structure appears to be of general importance, affecting the metabolic response to foods containing low-molecular-weight carbohydrates as well as to starchy foods. It has been demonstrated that disruption of the botanical structure of apples, rice, and legumes increases the availability of the carbohydrate moiety for digestion and absorption. The physical texture of foods may also have an impact .In addition, in starchy foods, the structure of the substrate itself affects enzyme availabiity and, hence, the glycemic response. The hydration of starch during heat treatment, commonly referred to as gelatinization, increases its availability to amylases . Almost all common foods are more or less completely gelatinized. However, low processing temperature, low moisture content, or enclosure of ingredients in intact botanical tissue will obstruct the hydration of starch in the product. Chemical structure, that is, the amylose-amylopectin ratio, is another factor that may be responsible for the glucose- and insuhin-response differences. In rice a higher amylose content is accompanied by a lowered metabolic response. Amylose is also prone to react with other food components. Complex formation with lipids has been shown to reduce the rate of amylolysis, both in vitro and in vivo. The significance of this in food is not known. The presence of certain food components such as antinutrients and organic acids may also reduce the rate of starch digestion, whereas viscous dietary fiber probably mainly affects other gastrointestinal events such as the rate of absorption or gastric emptying. The content and nature of protein or lipids in a food item may also be important. Coingestion of lipids and proteins has been demonstrated to influence the glycemic response to carbohydrates in mixed meals.

Differences in metabolic responses to starchy foods are particularly intriguing because of the dominance of starch in human diets. Many of the food factors listed above are also known to influence the enzymic availability of starch and, hence, the rate of starch digestion. semilongterm studies conducted in patients with metabolic disorders were performed with test diets with comparatively small differences in GI, 10-20 units. the beneficial effects on blood lipids in particular were found to be significant and emphasize the nutritional potential of a lente diet. To improve food properties it is essential to gain more knowledge about the factors responsible for the metabolic features of carbohydrate foods. Such work will require adequate in vitro procedures that are capable of predicting events in vivo. Although the rate of gastric emptying may affect postprandial glycemia , the rate of digestion has been suggested as a major determinant of such glycemia in the case of starchy foods. These findings raise doubts concerning the relevance of current in vitro models because they all include mechanical disintegration prior to enzymic incubation or are performed on products based on pure starch . To be more generally appliRecent data suggest that the rate of enzymic digestion, both in vitro and in vivo, is significantly affected by variables such as food structure and the degree of disintegration (cable for ranking), in vitro methods should be capable of evaluating starch properties in products with a realistic food structure. In the process of classifying postprandial glucose and insulin responses to carbohydrate foods, a reliable ranking tool is crucial. In the process of classifying postprandial glucose and insulin responses to carbohydrate foods, a reliable ranking tool is crucial. Food properties affecting the metabolic responses to cereal and legume products In light of the dominance of starch in our diet, the discussion in this paper will be confined to food properties of cereal and legume products, with special reference to properties such as physical and botanical structure, the presence of soluble dietary fiber, RS content, and the amylose-amylopectin ratio. Pasta products Pasta products may have beneficial properties. However, from a technological point of view, pasta is not a homogeneous group. First, the product form may vary considerably, which may affect postprandial glycemia. For example, macaroni has been shown to produce a higher glucose response than spaghetti,possibly because of the higher product density of spaghetti. Disintegration of the spaghetti into a coarse porridge significantly increased glucose response (GI = 73) compared with intact spaghetti (GI = 61) (15). This shows that food texture is an important determinant of glycemic response to pasta. However, even after disintegration, firm pasta particles remained, and the pasta porridge produced a lower glucose response than did a bread made from the same raw material. Such phenomena related to physical structure could be explored in research to improve properties of flourbased products. The GI concept is applied both in healthy subjects and in subjects with diabetes and a similar ranking is assumed independently of carbohydrate-tolerance status. The reliability of GI may in some cases be improved by excluding the late postprandial phase.

In conclusion, the range of GIs obtained with pasta products was comparatively narrow. Hence, it appears that ingredients and processing conditions can be varied within broad limits while lente features are maintained. Pasta can thus be recommended for consumption, the only objection being its generally low dietary fiber content. Bread products Traditionally, bread is an important product in Western diets. It is also one of the most dominant sources of available carbohydrate. most bread products elicit high glucose and insulin responses. In some diabetic diets, bread may be more dominant because of the need for more-frequent meals. Attempts have been made to reduce postprandial glycemia by making artificial starch-free bread, or by adding antinutritional substances such as phytic acid or amylase inhibitors. In a recent study, the potential for exchanging flour for preheated intact kernels from wheat, rye, oats, and barley was explored in experiments in healthy subjects (SO). A barley bread made from whole-meal flour was also included as a test product, and white bread was included as a reference bread. GIs and insuhinemic indexes (II) were calculated from 90mm areas . Kernel breads made from wheat, rye, and barley displayed significantly lower GIs than did the white reference bread. In fact, GIs for kernel breads made from rye and barley (GI= 49-58) were in the lower range of that reported for pasta (46). These pumpernickel-type products have the property of a lowered rate of starch digestion in a more or less intact botanical structure. In contrast, the glucose responses to the barley-flour bread and the oat-kernel bread were not significantly different from responses to white-wheat bread, suggesting that dietary fibers in oats and barley are not effective in reducing postprandial glycemia at the amounts tested. The lack of effect on GI of oatkernel bread was probably because the integrity of oat kernels is more easily damaged by heat treatment.In the analysis of the relationship between GI and dietary fiber, different conclusions have been reached. Wolever (53) found that uronic acid content and insoluble fiber were more closely related to GI than was soluble or total fiber. In contrast, Nishimune et al suggested that GI showed a strong dependency on total and soluble dietary fiber content. An interesting topic for future research will be the evaluation of metabolic properties of cereal products with genotypes that vary in the specification of content and or viscosity of fiber components. Barley- and corn-based products Results with rice have indicated that a high amylose content (up to 25%) decreases postprandial glucose and insulin responses. However, an opposite relationship between amylose content and glycemic response has also been reported. Significantly lower glucose and insulin responses were obtained with boiled kernels than with the corresponding boiled flours, again emphasizing the importance of food structure. The GIs of the barley kernels (GI = 29-37) were in fact lower than the range reported for rice. Starch in both barley flour products was digested and absorbed at a slower rate than in the white reference bread, as judged from lower postprandial glucose (GI = 55-65)and insulin responses. Legumes are also good sources of dietary fiber and high-quality protein. From a nutritional point of view it is therefore relevant to increase legume consumption and facilitate inclusion

of legumes in the diet. Several explanations for the lente nature of legumes have been suggested. The metabolic responses to starch in cereal and legume products are greatly affected by food structure. Any process disrupting the tissue or cell structure will increase those responses. The glucose and insulin responses to cereal products are reduced by ingredients with an intact botanical or physical structure, or a high amylose content, or by enrichment with viscous dietary fiber. However, the importance of a moderate increase in the amylose- amylopectin ratio and of naturally occurring levels of viscous fiber is less clear. The rate of starch digestion is a major determinant of the metabolic responses to most products. Consequently, food factors obstructing amylolysis will lower the postprandial glucose response. Finally, provided the sample pretreatment mimics chewing, in vitro enzymic procedures can beused to facilitate ranking.