Abstract
Several types of starch hydrolysates that have dextrose equivalents of 12-16 were compared in terms of structural analysis, in vitro digestibility via the Prosky method, and digestibility as esti-mated by measuring the glycaemic index in humans, with their correlations noted. Results showed that digestion of starch hydrolysates decreased with the initial moisture content during their prepa-ration. Structural analyses of samples suggested that the decrease in digestion was due to glycosidic linkage conversion. Conceivably, this glycosidic linkage conversion translates to condensation, a re-verse reaction to hydrolysis. Furthermore, it was also shown that digestibility of maltodextrins clearly differed between enzymatic hydrolysis and acidic hydrolysis, and that the molecular weights of indigestible fractions differed according to the hydrolysis method. In vitro digestibility of starch hydrolysates was also compared with their digestibility in humans by measuring glycaemic index. The portions determined indigestible from the in vitro test coincided with findings in humans. Similar results were obtained from the in vitro and in vivo tests. The in vitro test method used in this study may provide a simple and reliable approach to evaluate the digestibility of starch hydro-lysates in humans.
