Cereal Chem 68:130-132   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Effect of Resistant Starch on Intestinal Responses in Rats.

G. S. Ranhotra, J. A. Gelroth, K. Astroth, and G. J. Eisenbraun. Copyright 1991 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Native starch (NS) extracted from wheat and subjected to five autoclaving and cooling cycles contained 11.5% resistance starch (RS), which was measured as insoluble fiber; NS contained a mere 0.5% RS. Both starches were fed to groups of rats for four weeks (RS was fed with or without antibiotics). Compared with rats fed NS, those fed treated starch showed a sixfold (RS diet) or nearly 18-fold (RS with antibiotics) increase in fecal wet weight; increases in fecal volumes paralleled increases in fecal weight. Rats fed treated starch (no antibiotics) diegested 37.1% RS; those fed antibiotics digested only 14.3% RS. RS thus appears to be highly resistant to mammalian enzyme and may be classified as a component of fiber.