Combination of soya protein and polydextrose reduces energy intake and glycaemic response via modulation of gastric emptying rate, ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 in Chinese.

The short-term effect of soya protein, polydextrose and their combination on energy intake (EI) was investigated in Chinese. In total, twenty-seven healthy, normotensive and lean Chinese men aged 21-40 years were given four different soyabean curd preloads with or without polydextrose. The study was a repeated-measure, randomised, cross-over design. The consumption of high-protein soyabean curd alone or in addition with polydextrose as a preload led to greater reduction in EI at a subsequent meal. A similar observation was also found after intake of low-protein soyabean curd with polydextrose. The gut hormone responses mirrored the reduction in food intake. It appears that incorporation of polydextrose either with low- or high-protein soyabean curd could be a potential strategy to reduce EI and assist with weight management. The popular consumption of soyabean curd in Chinese makes it an ideal vehicle for incorporation of polydextrose. This evidence-based dietary approach can serve as a guideline for developing functional foods for weight reduction and weight maintenance.

Effect of co-ingestion of amino acids with rice on glycaemic and insulinaemic response.

Consumption of high glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic response (GR) food such as white rice has been implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have reported the ability of individual amino acids to reduce GR of carbohydrate-rich foods. Because of the bitter flavour of amino acids, they have rarely been used to reduce GR. We now report the use of a palatable, preformed amino acid mixture in the form of essence of chicken. In all, sixteen healthy male Chinese were served 68 or 136 ml amino acid mixture together with rice, or 15 or 30 min before consumption of white rice. Postprandial blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations were measured at fasting and every 15 min after consumption of the meal until 60 min after the consumption of the white rice. Subsequent blood samples were taken at 30-min intervals until 210 min. The co-ingestion of 68 ml of amino acid mixture with white rice produced the best results in reducing the peak blood glucose and GR of white rice without increasing the insulinaemic response. It is postulated that amino acid mixtures prime ß-cell insulin secretion and peripheral tissue uptake of glucose. The use of ready-to-drink amino acid mixtures may be a useful strategy for lowering the high-GI rice diets consumed in Asia.

Glycemic potency of muffins made with wheat, rice, corn, oat and barley flours: a comparative study between in vivo and in vitro.

PURPOSE: Muffins made with wheat flour are a popular snack consumed in western and emerging countries. This study aimed to examine the content of amylose, glycemic response (GR) and glycemic index (GI) of muffins baked with refined wheat and rice flours, as well as wholegrain corn, oat and barley flours. METHODS: This study adopted a randomized, controlled, crossover, non-blind design. Twelve healthy participants consumed wheat, rice, corn, oat and barley muffins once and the reference glucose solution three times in a random order on non-consecutive day. Capillary blood samples were taken every 15 min in the first 60 min and every 30 min for the remaining 60 min for blood glucose analysis. The Megazyme amylose/amylopectin assay procedure was employed to measure amylose content. RESULTS: The GR elicited from the consumption of wheat, rice and corn muffins was comparable between these samples but significantly greater when compared with oat and barley muffins. Consumption of wholegrain muffins, apart from corn muffin, blunted postprandial GR when compared with muffins baked with refined cereal flours. Muffins baked with wheat, rice, corn, oat and barley flours gave rise to GI values of 74, 79, 74, 53 and 55, respectively. The content of amylose was significantly higher in corn, oat and barley muffins than wheat and rice muffins. CONCLUSIONS: The greater content of amylose and fibre may play a part in the reduced glycemic potency of oat and barley muffins. Wheat flour can be substituted with oat and barley flours for healthier muffins and other bakery products.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of Chinese five-spice ingredients.

Phenolic compounds in spices were reportedly found to possess high antioxidant capacities (AOCs), which may prevent or reduce risk of human diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The potential AOC of Chinese five-spice powder (consist of Szechuan pepper, fennel seed, cinnamon, star anise and clove) with varying proportion of individual spice ingredients was investigated through four standard methods. Our results suggest that clove is the major contributor to the AOC of the five-spice powder whereas the other four ingredients contribute to the flavour. For example, the total phenolic content as well as ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values increased linearly with the clove percentage in five-spice powder. This observation opens the door to use clove in other spice mixtures to increase their AOC and flavour. Moreover, linear relationships were also observed between AOC and the total phenolic content of the 32 tested spice samples.

Can bread processing conditions alter glycaemic response?

Bread is a staple food that is traditionally made from wheat flour. This study aimed to compare the starch digestibility of western baked bread and oriental steamed bread. Four types of bread were prepared: western baked bread (WBB) and oriental steamed bread (OSB), modified baked bread (MBB) made with the OSB recipe and WBB processing, and modified steamed bread (MSB) made with the WBB recipe and OSB processing. MBB showed the highest starch digestibility in vitro, followed by WBB, OSB and MSB. A similar trend was observed for glycaemic response in vivo. MBB, WBB, OSB and MSB had a glycaemic index of 75±4, 71±5, 68±5 and 65±4, respectively. Processing differences had a more pronounced effect on starch digestibility in bread, and steamed bread was healthier in terms of glycaemic response. The manipulation of processing conditions could be an innovative route to alter the glycaemic response of carbohydrate-rich foods.

Total antioxidant capacity and starch digestibility of muffins baked with rice, wheat, oat, corn and barley flour.

Muffins are a popular snack consumed in western and emerging countries. Increased glycemic load has been implicated in the aetiology of diabetes. This study examined the starch digestibility of muffins baked with rice, wheat, corn, oat and barley flour. Rapidly digested starch (RDS) was greatest in rice (445 mg/g) and wheat (444 mg/g) muffins, followed by oat (416 mg/g), corn (402 mg/g) and barley (387 mg/g). Total phenolic content was found to be positively correlated with total antioxidative capacity and inversely related to the RDS of muffins. The phenolic content was highest in muffin baked with barley flour (1,687 µg/g), followed by corn (1,454 µg/g), oat (945 µg/g), wheat (705 µg/g), and rice (675 µg/g) flour. Browning was shown not to correlate with free radical scavenging capacity and digestibility of muffins. The presence of high phenolic content and low RDS makes barley muffin an ideal snack to modulate glycemic response.

The influence of saturated fatty acids on complex index and in vitro digestibility of rice starch.

In Asia, rice and rice products are the main sources of carbohydrate contributing to both dietary energy and glycaemic load. It is known that complexation of starch with lipids could potentially reduce the availability of starch to enzymatic degradation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of capric, lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acids, ranging from 0 to 2 mmol/g starch, on complexing index and in vitro digestibility of gelatinized rice starch. The results revealed that the ability of rice starch to complex with saturated fatty acids increased with increasing concentration; but reduced with increasing lipid chain length. The complexation of rice starch with capric, lauric, myristic and stearic acids did not reduce the in vitro starch digestibility, except rice starch-palmitic acid complexes.

Isolation and structure elucidation of phenolic compounds from longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) seed by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) analysis revealed the phenolics profile of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) seed. Gallic acid, ellagic acid, monogalloyl-glucose, monogalloyl-diglucose, digalloyl-diglucose, penta- to heptagalloyl-glucose, ellagic acid-pentose conjugate, galloyl-HHDP (Hexahydroxydiphenoyl)-glucopyranose, pentagalloy-HHDP-glucopyranose, procyanidin A-type dimer, procyanidin B2 and quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside were found to be present in longan seed along with a number of, as yet, unknown compounds. The results illustrate the rich array of phenolic compounds in longan seeds which could be utilized as health-beneficial bioactive compounds rather than just discarded as waste.