The suppressive effect of rice albumin (RA) of 16 kDa on elevation of blood glucose level after oral loading of starch or glucose and its possible mechanism were examined. RA suppressed the increase in blood glucose levels in both the oral starch tolerance test and the oral glucose tolerance test. The blood glucose concentrations 15 min after the oral administration of starch were 144 ± 6 mg/dL for control group and 127 ± 4 mg/dL for RA 200 mg/kg BW group, while those after the oral administration of glucose were 157 ± 7 mg/dL for control group and 137 ± 4 mg/dL for RA 200 mg/kg BW group. However, in the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, no significant differences in blood glucose level were observed between RA and the control groups, indicating that RA suppresses the glucose absorption from the small intestine. However, RA did not inhibit the activity of mammalian α-amylase. RA was hydrolyzed to an indigestible high-molecular-weight peptide (HMP) of 14 kDa and low-molecular-weight peptides by pepsin and pancreatin. Furthermore, RA suppressed the glucose diffusion rate through a semipermeable membrane like dietary fibers in vitro. Therefore, the indigestible HMP may adsorb glucose and suppress its absorption from the small intestine.
Inhibiting starch hydrolysis into sugar could reduce postprandial blood glucose elevation and contribute to diabetes prevention. Here, both buckwheat and wheat albumin that inhibited mammalian α-amylase in vitro suppressed blood glucose level elevation after starch loading in vivo, but it had no effect after glucose loading. In contrast to the non-competitive inhibition of wheat α-amylase inhibitor, buckwheat albumin acted in a competitive manner. Although buckwheat α-amylase inhibitor was readily hydrolysed by digestive enzymes, the hydrolysate retained inhibitory activity. Together with its thermal stability, this suggests its potential use in functional foods that prevent diabetes.
Starch starts to retrograde and form a crystalline structure immediately after gelatinization upon heating with water. The retrogradation rate is affected by the starch granule size, degree of polymerization, amylose/amylopectin ratio, starch concentration, water content, and storage temperature. Retrogradation of amylose occurs over a short term, while that of amylopectin occurs over a long term. The degree of starch gelatinization and retrogradation is evaluated by the degree of crystalline structure formation, viscoelastic properties, molecular mobility, and enzymatic digestibility using thermal, rheological, spectroscopic, and chemical techniques. The addition of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, salts, acids, polyols, and enzymes changes the starch retrogradation rate, and some of these prevent retrogradation.
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