Study looks to manipulate glycaemic response of extruded snack products
A study conducted by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University and published in the Journa…A study conducted by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University and published in the Journal of Plant Foods for Human Nutrition concludes that the inclusion of barley β-glucan rich fractions and mushroom β-glucan rich fractions could be utilised by the food industry to manipulate the glycaemic response of extruded snack products.
β-glucan is a commonly researched plant cell wall component that, when incorporated into food products, has been associated with cholesterol and glycaemic response reductions. The study focused on β-glucan rich fractions from barley and mushroom used in the production of extruded ready to eat snacks.
Inclusion of barley β-glucan rich fractions and mushroom β-glucan fractions at 10 % levels increased the total dietary fibre content of extrudates compared to the control. Product expansion increased with the introduction of both barley and mushroom fraction which in turn resulted in a reduction in product hardness.
In vitro digestion protocol illustrated that inclusion of barley and mushroom β-glucan rich fractions manipulated the starch digestibility profile and hence rate of glucose release during digestion compared to the control sample. This in turn resulted in a significant reduction in potential glycaemic response of the samples of between 20 and 25 % for barley β-glucan rich fractions and between 17 and 25 % for mushroom β-glucan rich fractions.
