Effects of Dietary Components on Starch Digestion

Starch is the component of main foods for human beings. It is a complex carbohydrate comprised of two glucose polymers including amylose, an essentially linear polymer of α-1,4-linked anhydroglucose resides, and amylopectin, a branched macromolecule comprising chains of α-1,4-linked anhydroglucose resides linked by α-1,6-branch points. After ingestion of starchy foods, the α-1,4-linkages are hydrolyzed by salivary and pancreatic α-amylase to produce maltose, maltotriose, maltooligosaccharides and branched α-limit dextrins, which are further hydrolyzed by brush border maltase-glucoamylase and sucrase-isomaltase to glucose, followed by adsorption into the portal blood. Hence, the rate and extent of starch digestion decides the blood glucose level after a meal to a large extent. Postprandial hyperglycaemia has been considered as one of the important factors that induces the disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. Therefore, in recent years the function of some food components, e.g., polyphenols, polysaccharides, and dietary fibres, regarding the regulation of the digestion of starch has increasingly attracted research interests.

This Research Topic will provide a communication collection highlighting the effects of dietary components or constituents on starch digestion both in vitro and in vivo. The aim is to give a better understanding of how the dietary functional compounds, functional foods and dietary constituents develop the function of regulation of postprandial blood sugar level through controlling the rate and extent of starch digestion. Apart from the relationships between the regulation function and the dietary components; structures are also going to be investigated.

In this Research Topic, the submission of Original Research, Methods, Systematic Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, as well as Opinions, are welcomed on the themes including but not limit to the following branch topics:
· Reviews focusing on the recent advances in effects of food components on starch digestion in vitro and/or in vivo.
· Inhibition of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes by functional foods and dietary functional components, e.g., polyphenols, polysaccharides, soluble and insoluble dietary fibres, etc.
· Binding interactions between carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes and dietary components, and the structure-activity relationships.
· Binding interactions between starch and dietary components.
· Effects of dietary components, dietary constituents/patterns, starch microstructures and food structures on starch digestion in vitro and/or in vivo.