Emphasis on using the glycaemic index (GI) in addition to carbohydrate
exchange lists has led to a greater variety of foods from which to choose for the diabetic
population. Breakfast is regarded as the most important meal of the day and the
glycaemic response to lunch can be improved by decreasing the GI of breakfast.
However, most conventional breakfast cereals and bread exhibit a high GI. Dried beans
have a low GI and various processes such as cooking and canning increase GI values, but
still in the low GI range. In recent years, extrusion cooking has become one of the popular
new processes developed by the food industry. Extrusion provides a convenient
alternative for the ingestion of dry beans in the diet. Muffins are eaten by many South
Africans and may be an ideal alternative for breakfast cereals and bread, especially if the
GI of the muffins is low. The aim of this study was to determine the GI of a muffin baked
with extruded bean flour and compare it to the GI of a muffin baked with whole wheat flour.
Subjects and methodology: The study cohort consisted of ten healthy males and ten
healthy females. Subjects randomly consumed test meals of glucose (the reference),
bean muffins and whole wheat muffins on different days. Each test meal provided 509
available carbohydrate as analysed by the Englyst method.
Results: The GI of the muffin baked with extruded bean flour (mean 53.0%, Confidence
intervals (CI): 41.7; 64.2) was not significantly different from that of the whole wheat muffin
(mean 55.5%, CI: 41.8; 69.2) but still in the low to intermediate GI category.
Conclusion: Extrusion of dried beans results in a fine flour with relatively no intact starch
which may explain the very low resistant starch content (1.6I100g) of the muffins. The
small particle size of the fine flour could further have contributed to the higher than
expected GI of the bean muffin because the size of the particle is inversely related to
glycaemic response. Muffins baked with extruded dried bean meal are nevertheless
regarded as an excellent choice for breakfast and as part of the prudent diet. Beans have
additional health benefits and are included in the South African Food Based Dietary
Guidelines. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/347 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Gouws, Jacqueline |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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