Abstract
Raw potato starch is very difficult to be digested in vitro and also in vivo. We confirmed the digestive nature of potato starch comparing with other starches and studied the mechanism or process of digestion of raw starch in vivo using this potato starch.
Observation of starch granules taken from some parts of the alimentary tract of rat fed the raw potato starch diet under the optical and the scanning electron microscope revealed that the destructive process had already begun in the stomach: many granules with fissure or ditch was found in the contents of stomach and this fissure seemed to be widened and scooped out by the action of amylase in small intestine.
In order to make clear the “gastric factor, ” we examined the effect of amylase and hydrochloric acid treatment and drew an inference that a synergetic action of salivary amylase and hydrochloric acid in gastric juice carries out the first step of the destructive process of starch granules.
