Digestion of starch and glycaemic response to mixed meals in pigs

The digestion in the proximal intestine of mixed meals (5 160 kJ) containin g either native (NS) or pregelatinized (PS) maize starches (approximate to 200 g), and the postprandial glycaemic responses they induced were compared in pigs. For both meals, approximate to 25 % of the ingested starch was as similated above the duodenal cannula (positioned 75 cm beyond the pylorus). Larger amounts of starch were collected for NS than for PS during the firs t 30 min. The glycaemic responses, however, indicated a higher rate of gluc ose absorption for PS during the first 30 min, which could be explained by the higher susceptibility of PS to hydrolysis, as we observed in vivo. Inde ed, malto-oligosaccharides (G1-G3) represented almost 80 % of the total cr- glucans collected at 150 min in the duodenum after the PS meal. At th at ti me, alter the NS me al, only 30 % of the alpha-glucans we re malto-oligosa ccharides. Th us, even after a mixed meal, the starch digestion rate can al ter the observed postprandial glycaemic response. (C) Inra/Elsevier, Paris.