Abstract:
As the substantial contribution of resistant starch to food nutritional quality and disease prevention becomes more obvious, the challenge of increasing its intake by incorporating adequate amounts of it in to the diet still seems unresolved. Thus, this study was aimed at quantifying the resistant starch contents of some processed food products sold in Enugu Metropolis using the Megazyme resistant starch kit ((Megazyme Bray, Ireland). The total starch (TS), resistant starch (RS) and non-resistant starch (NRS) contents were determined in selected cereals (Oatmeal flours, basmati rice flours), Legumes (beans flour), Fruits (Unripe plantain flours) and Tubers (yam flours and potato starch flours). Mean values were determined with MegaCalc and data were expressed as percentage weight per weight (%w/w). The total starch (TS) (control) was 48. 676% from which 41.217% of resistant starch (RS) and 7.458% of non-resistant (NRS) were deduced. There was a significant inverse relationship between NRS and RS in all the processed food products assayed, however, LBR (RS: 43.427%, NRS: 43.966%) and TPF (RS: 4.345%, NRS: 4.063%) recorded no significant (%w/w) difference in their RS and NRS contents when compared to the RS and NRS values obtained from plantain flours ; AFPF(RS: 82.314%, NRS:12.595), NAPF(RS:82.757%, NRS:12.682%) and DPF(RS: 65.648%, NRS:18.351%). Significantly, higher total starch (TS) contents were observed in DPF (83.999%), OYF (84.596%), APYF (86.951%), LBR (87.393%), TBR (94.028%), AFPF (94.908%) and NAPF (95.441%) flour samples when compared to other flour samples, with TPF showing the least (%w/w) TS content of 8.408%. Moreover, despite showing similar (%w/w) TS contents, the NRS contents of TBR (54.780%), LBR (43.966%), OYF (56.242%) and APYF (48.182%) were significantly (%w/w) higher than that of DPF, AFPF and NAPF, which had NRS contents of 18.351%, 12.595% and 12.682% respectively. RS contents in all plantain flour samples were similarly high, however, NAPF which had RS content of 82.757% showed significant (%w/w) higher RS content when compared to other food samples, whereas, all Oatmeal product samples had very low RS contents, however, ESO, with RS content of 1.326%, recorded the lowest (%w/w) RS content among all food samples. Considering that resistant starch, like dietary fiber confers a lot of health benefits, recommendation of foods with significant amounts of high RS and low NRS, as seen in the plantain flour food products, should be considered perfect for consumption as they confer a lot of nutritional benefits while encouraging healthy living as well.
