RESISTANT STARCH AND POTENTIAL GLYCEMIC INDEX OF RAW AND COOKED LEGUMES (LENTILS, CHICKPEAS AND BEANS)

The amount of resistant starch (RS) in raw and processed legumes, lent ils, chickpeas and beans was analysed. In addition, the effect of cook ing on the availability of legume starches to enzymes, which may influ ence the glycaemic response, was studied. Raw legumes were found to ha ve higher RS values (16-21%) than retrograded or cooked ones (4-8%). C ooling increased RS yields, whereas reheating maintained or decreased the value depending on the sample. On the other hand, the kinetics of starch hydrolysis revealed that the rate of digestion was higher for c ooked seeds and retrograded flours (15-21% of total starch digested) t han for raw flours (5-8% of total starch digested). The estimated glyc aemic indices (GIs), i.e. GI(1) from the Hydrolysis Index (HI) and GI( 2) from the percentage of hydrolysis within 90 min (H-90), were well c orrelated with the reported GI values (r = 0.96 and r = 0.95 respectiv ely, P less than or equal to 0.05).