Slowly Digestible Starch: Concept, Mechanism, and Proposed Extended Glycemic Index

• Published in: Critical reviews in food science and nutrition Vol. 49; no. 10; pp. 852 - 867
• Main Authors: Zhang, Genyi, Hamaker, Bruce R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.11.2009; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; carbohydrate metabolism; carbohydrate nutrition; Carbohydrates; chemistry; classification; dietary carbohydrate; digestibility; Digestion; Effects; extended glycemic index; extended glycemic index (EGI); Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food Analysis; Food Analysis - methods; Food industries; Food science; Food Technology; Food Technology - methods; Food Technology - trends; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glycemic Index; glycemic index (GI); glycemic response; Humans; intestinal absorption; literature reviews; Measurement techniques; metabolism; methods; Nutrition; nutrition physiology; Nutritive value; resistant starch; slowly digestible starch; Slowly digestible starch (SDS); Starch; Starch - chemistry; Starch - classification; Starch - metabolism; Starch and starchy product industries; trends; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; glycemic index (GI); Nutrition; extended glycemic index (EGI); Starch; Slowly digestible starch (SDS); carbohydrate nutrition; Carbohydrate; Glycemic index; glycemic response; Polysaccharide; Mechanism
• ISSN: 1040-8398; 1549-7852; 1549-7852
• DOI: 10.1080/10408390903372466

Starch is the major glycemic carbohydrate in foods, and its nutritional property is related to its rate and extent of digestion and absorption in the small intestine. A classification of starch into rapidly digestible starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS), and resistant starch (RS) based on the in vitro Englyst test is used to specify the nutritional quality of starch. Both the RDS and RS fractions have been extensively studied while there are only limited studies on the intermediate starch fraction of SDS, particularly regarding its structural basis and slow digestion mechanism. The current understanding of SDS including its concept, measurement method, structural basis and mechanism, physiological consequences, and approaches to make SDS is reviewed. An in vivo method of extended glycemic index (EGI) is proposed to evaluate its metabolic effect and related health consequences.