A major global threat to public health today is diabetes and its inevitable co-morbidities. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of diabetes cases, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths caused directly by diabetes worldwide. Diabetes is now is the 7th leading cause of global deaths. Starch digestion after consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods causes rapid, impaired glucose release in the blood and increases the risk of diabetes. Some starch fractions are deemed beneficial towards preventing this impairment in glucose metabolism. Nutraceutical starch represents the sum total of slowly digestible (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) fractions in foods, which have a restricted rate of hydrolysis. This fraction of starch is present inherently in foods but in limited amounts.
Most of the processing techniques employed in food preservation and product development increase the susceptibility of starch towards carbolytic enzymes (e.g., a-glucosidase and a-amylase), however, modification in process protocols and ingredient replacement can play a vital role to increase the content of nutraceutical starch in foods. Food processing involves a number of operations which alter the starch chemistry and its digestibility in a distinctive manner. Nowadays, nutraceutical starch is being explored for development of target functional foods. Furthermore, understanding the impact of innovative techniques, molecular structure, food matrix, and associated human physiology is yet to be understood fully.
Dietary management has been identified as the major strategy to curb the future escalation of diabetes prevalence. Nutraceutical starch has emerged as an effective functional component of carbohydrate fractions which controls the post-prandial glucose spike. Most of the cereal staples are relatively known to deliver a higher glycemic response but their consumption is linked to cultural preference and satiety effects among Asian populations. Therefore, dietary management of type II diabetes through modification and processing interventions to enhance nutraceutical starch in staple foods holds a viable scope for alleviating hyperglycemia.
This Research Topic welcomes original research and review articles that contribute towards the understanding of nutraceutical starch, its chemistry, the specific role of inherent and dietary factors, impact of processing, and the contributions made so far in view of its short- and long-term health benefits.
Several indicative themes that can be addressed are:
• Resistant Starch (RS) and Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS): impacts of processing on SDS and RS, innovative methods to enhance RS in foods, development of RS enriched foods, micro- and macro-nutrient interactions and its influence on RS.
• Glycemic Index (GI): its importance in management of diabetes, strategies to modulate GI, analysis of GI, GI of mixed meals, effect of additives, hydrocolloids, non-nutritive sweeteners, fat, proteins and so forth, the role and mechanism of bioactive compounds in inhibiting starch hydrolysis, recent developments in development of low GI foods.
• Thermal processing: effects of heat processing on RS and GI, standardization, optimization of thermal techniques and methods to enhance RS, microwave cooking, parboiling, conventional heating, baking, frying, extrusion cooking.
• Cereal and cereal based foods: Innovations to enhance nutraceutical starch in staple cereals, identification of novel varieties for development of low or medium GI rice, development of low GI cereal based foods.
A major global threat to public health today is diabetes and its inevitable co-morbidities. Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90% of diabetes cases, with an estimated 1.5 million deaths caused directly by diabetes worldwide. Diabetes is now is the 7th leading cause of global deaths. Starch digestion after consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods causes rapid, impaired glucose release in the blood and increases the risk of diabetes. Some starch fractions are deemed beneficial towards preventing this impairment in glucose metabolism. Nutraceutical starch represents the sum total of slowly digestible (SDS) and resistant starch (RS) fractions in foods, which have a restricted rate of hydrolysis. This fraction of starch is present inherently in foods but in limited amounts.
Most of the processing techniques employed in food preservation and product development increase the susceptibility of starch towards carbolytic enzymes (e.g., a-glucosidase and a-amylase), however, modification in process protocols and ingredient replacement can play a vital role to increase the content of nutraceutical starch in foods. Food processing involves a number of operations which alter the starch chemistry and its digestibility in a distinctive manner. Nowadays, nutraceutical starch is being explored for development of target functional foods. Furthermore, understanding the impact of innovative techniques, molecular structure, food matrix, and associated human physiology is yet to be understood fully.
Dietary management has been identified as the major strategy to curb the future escalation of diabetes prevalence. Nutraceutical starch has emerged as an effective functional component of carbohydrate fractions which controls the post-prandial glucose spike. Most of the cereal staples are relatively known to deliver a higher glycemic response but their consumption is linked to cultural preference and satiety effects among Asian populations. Therefore, dietary management of type II diabetes through modification and processing interventions to enhance nutraceutical starch in staple foods holds a viable scope for alleviating hyperglycemia.
This Research Topic welcomes original research and review articles that contribute towards the understanding of nutraceutical starch, its chemistry, the specific role of inherent and dietary factors, impact of processing, and the contributions made so far in view of its short- and long-term health benefits.
Several indicative themes that can be addressed are:
• Resistant Starch (RS) and Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS): impacts of processing on SDS and RS, innovative methods to enhance RS in foods, development of RS enriched foods, micro- and macro-nutrient interactions and its influence on RS.
• Glycemic Index (GI): its importance in management of diabetes, strategies to modulate GI, analysis of GI, GI of mixed meals, effect of additives, hydrocolloids, non-nutritive sweeteners, fat, proteins and so forth, the role and mechanism of bioactive compounds in inhibiting starch hydrolysis, recent developments in development of low GI foods.
• Thermal processing: effects of heat processing on RS and GI, standardization, optimization of thermal techniques and methods to enhance RS, microwave cooking, parboiling, conventional heating, baking, frying, extrusion cooking.
• Cereal and cereal based foods: Innovations to enhance nutraceutical starch in staple cereals, identification of novel varieties for development of low or medium GI rice, development of low GI cereal based foods.
