AACC International - 2009 Meeting Abstract - In-vitro starch digestibility and glycemic property of Acha (Digitaria exilis) porridge

Meeting Abstract - Poster Presentation

In-vitro starch digestibility and glycemic property of Acha (Digitaria exilis) porridge
V. A. JIDEANI (1), S. C. Podgorski (1)
(1) Department of Food Technology, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town 8000, SOUTH AFRICA
Cereal Foods World 54:A48

The in-vitro starch digestibility of acha flour and glycemic property of acha porridge was investigated for two acha cultivars (Digitaria exilis, white and Digitaria iburua, brown) compared to maize porridge. The total starch (TS) for maize, white and brown acha flours were 45.3, 42.6 and 41.5% respectively. The resistant starch (RS) was 2.9, 2.1, and 1.2 respectively for maize, white and brown acha flours. The digestible starch (DS) was 43.7, 41.4 and 40.0% respectively for maize, white and brown acha flours. There was no significant difference between the maize flour and the two acha cultivars in TS and DS. However, brown acha differed significantly from white and maize flours in RS content. Both time and porridge type significantly (P < 0.05) affected the amount of hydrolysed starch. Within 180 min, a significantly higher amount of starch in maize porridge (32.8%) was hydrolysed compared to 18.6 and 15.5% respectively for white and brown acha porridge. The rapidly digestible starch (RDS) and slowly digestible starch (SDS) 31.2 and 40% respectively for maize porridge were significantly higher than those of white (13.7, 24.1%) and brown (16.3, 18.5%) acha porridge. The brown and white acha porridge had low estimated GI values (40). Acha grain may have a potential as a low GI food. However, further work is on going to establish effect of different processing methods on this grain.