The ability of the soluble fibre (1->3)(1->4)-β-D-glucan to attenuate postprandial glycemic responses depends on its viscosity which, in turn, depends on molecular weight (MW) and dose. However, the effect of altering viscosity by changing solution volume is unknown. Furthermore, β-glucan solutions may form hard gels when left to age, but the effect of these gels on glycemic responses is unknown. Therefore, the effects of varying the MW and volume of β-glucan solutions and hard gels, on glycemic responses were determined. The results showed that glycemic responses were reduced by increasing viscosity by increasing MW but not by reducing solution volume. Although β-glucan gels reduced the rate of glucose diffusion in vitro, they had no effect on glycemic responses in vivo. Thus, changing solution viscosity through changes in volume does not alter the effect of β-glucan on glycemic response, and β-glucan gels are ineffective at attenuating in vivo glycemic responses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35153 |
| Date | 19 March 2013 |
| Creators | Kwong, Melissa Gaa-Yee |
| Contributors | Wolever, Thomas M. S. |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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