Twenty-five years ago, it was found that a significant fraction of the starch present in foods is not digested in the small intestine and continues to the large intestine, where it is fermented by the microbiota; this fraction was named resistant starch (RS). It was also reported that there is a fraction of starch that is slowly digested, sustaining a release of glucose in the small intestine. Later, health benefits were found to be associated with the consumption of this fraction, called slowly digestible starch (SDS). The authors declare both fractions to be "nutraceutical starch." An overview of the structure of both fractions (RS and SDS), as well as their nutraceutical characteristics, is presented with the objective of suggesting methods and processes that will increase both fractions in starchy foods and prevent diseases that are associated with the consumption of glycemic carbohydrates.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1750-3841.13809

Starch Structure Influences Its Digestibility: A Review

https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/ws/files/8592286/Stathopoulos_CharacterizationofRiceStarch_Accepted_2016.pdf

Characterization of rice starch-ι-carrageenan biodegradable edible film. Effect of stearic acid on the film properties.

In the last century, starch present in foods was considered to be completely digested. However, during the 1980s, studies on starch digestion started to show that besides digestible starch, which could be rapidly ors lowly hydrolysed, there was a variable fraction that resisted hydrolysis by digestive enzymes. That fraction was named resistant starch (RS )and it encompasses those forms of starch that are not accessible to human digestive enzymes but can be fermented by the colonic microbiota, producing short-chain fatty acids. RS has been classiﬁed into ﬁve types, depending on the mechanism governing its resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis. Early research on RS was focused on the methods to determine its content in foods and its physiological eﬀects, including fermentability in the large intestine. Later on, due to the interest of the food industry, methods to increase the RS content of isolated starches were developed. Nowadays, the inﬂuence of RS on the gut microbiota is a relevant research topic owing to its potential health-related beneﬁts. This review summarizes over 30 years of investigation on starch digestibility, its relationship with human health, the methods to produce RS and its impact on the microbiome. (Less)

Lin-Lin Bian

Papers

Molecular structure and physicochemical properties of starch isolated from hydrothermally treated brown rice flour

A study on the shear strength and dry-wet cracking behaviour of waste fibre-reinforced expansive soil