LWT - Food Science and Technology 46 (2012) 177e182

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LWT - Food Science and Technology

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Starch digestibility and glycemic index of cookies partially substituted with unripe
banana flour
Edith Agama-Acevedo, José J. Islas-Hernández, Glenda Pacheco-Vargas, Perla Osorio-Díaz*,
Luis Arturo Bello-Pérez
Centro de Desarrollo de Productos Bióticos del IPN, Carr. Yautepec-Jojutla, Km. 6, colonia San Isidro, apartado postal 24, 62731 Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Mexican government declared that overweight and obesity are Mexico’s principal public health
Received 25 January 2011 problems. Because of this problem the development of nutraceutical foods with a low glycemic index is
Received in revised form necessary. Cookies with unripe banana flour (UBF) were prepared with very few ingredients in the
10 October 2011
formulation to avoid fat and digestible carbohydrates. Proximate composition and starch digestibility
Accepted 10 October 2011
were carried out. Moisture and dietary fiber content increased, but protein and fat decreased when the
UBF level increased in the cookie. Total starch in cookies added with UBF increased when this ingredient
Keywords:
was increased in the formulation. A similar pattern was found for available and resistant starch. Resistant
Unripe banana
Starch digestion
starch content is important due to the beneficial effects associated with its fermentation in the colon.
Chemical composition Hydrolysis percentage and predicted glycemic index decreased when the UBF increased in the composite
Hydrolysis rate that is related with the resistant starch content. When the amount of UBF was increased in the cookies,
the rapidly digestible starch decreased and the slowly digestible starch increased. Addition of UBF to
simple formulation for cookie preparation is important to obtain a product with high level of indigestible
carbohydrates.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Obesity is an important health public problem. This is of critical
importance with children as juvenile obesity can convert into
problems such as diabetes, coronary diseases, digestion malfunc-
tion, high cholesterol, etc. This is of particular importance in Mexico
because it ranks in first place in juvenile obesity in the world.
Because of this ranking a national program to increase consump-
tion of healthy foods ongoing (Bonvecchio et al., 2009; Ellingwood,
2010).
From a nutritional point of view, carbohydrates can be classified
as digestible or indigestible, glycemic or nonglycemic. There is
a nutritional trend to reduce the consumption of glycemic carbo-
hydrates in food products to increase the level of indigestible
carbohydrates (WHO/FAO, 2003) or to increase the content of
slowly digestible starch due to its beneficial effects. Starch is one of
the most important glycemic carbohydrates in cereals, roots,
tubers, and unripe fruits that are consumed in the worldwide diet.
The rate of digestion and absorption of glucose in the small
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ52 735 3942020; fax: þ52 735 3941896.
E-mail address: posorio@ipn.mx (P. Osorio-Díaz).
intestine determines the glycemic index of starchy foods (Englyst &
Hudson, 1996; Englyst, Englyst, Hudson, Cole, & Cummings, 1999;
O’Dea, Snow, & Nestel, 1981). Starch has been classified into
rapidly digestible starch (RDS) which is digested in vitro within
20 min, slowly digestible starch (SDS) which is digested starch
between 20 and 120 min, and resistant starch (RS) (Englyst,
Kingman, & Cummings, 1992). RDS is rapidly digested and absor-
bed in the duodenum and proximal regions of the small intestine,
leading to rapid elevation of blood glucose and usually followed by
a subsequent episode of hypoglycemia. SDS may prolong satiety,
which is beneficial in products that are utilized by athletes, and
could provide a longer, more consistent source of systemic glucose
with a low glycemic response (Englyst et al., 1992). SDS also
improves overall blood glucose control in patients with diabetes
mellitus (Hodge, English, O’Dea, & Giles, 2004) and attenuates total
serum cholesterol levels in hyperlipidemic patients (Flight &
Clifton, 2006).
RS is not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract, but is
fermented by microorganisms in the colon that produce short chain
fatty acids (SCFA). SCFAs provide additional energy to the body
along with a high proportion of butyrate that is beneficial to colonic
health (Topping & Clifton, 2001). SDS, as an intermediate starch
fraction between RDS and RS, is digested slowly throughout the

0023-6438/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2011.10.010
178 E. Agama-Acevedo et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 46 (2012) 177e182
entire small intestine providing sustained glucose release, with
a low initial glycemia and subsequently a slow and prolonged
release of glucose.
There is a considerable interest to improve control of diabetic
patients by altering the glycemic impact of ingested carbohydrates.
Glycemic index (GI) is used for ranking foods with respect to their
potential liberation of glucose toward the blood (Jenkins et al.,
1981), which subsequently leads to the preferred selection of
“slow carbohydrate” food items/diets (Englyst et al., 1992).
Although it cannot be regarded as a general rule, a nutritional
variable that may be linked to low GI properties is the RS and SDS
content (Truswell, 1992). Low glycemic index (GI) foods may
favorably influence blood glucose (Brand-Miller, Hayne, Petocz, &
Colagiuri, 2003), insulin sensitivity (Frost, Leeds, Trew, Margara, &
Dornhorst, 1998), insulin secretion (Wolever & Mehling, 2002),
blood lipids (Frost et al., 1999), cognition (Benton et al., 2003),
appetite (Ludwing, 2000) and athletic performance (Thomas,
Brotherhood, & Brand, 1991). Research indicates that to prevent
chronic diseases one the focuses should be in low glycemic indexes,
which result in “slow-release”.
Unripe banana flour has exhibited a nutritional/nutraceutical
potential (Da Mota, Lajolo, Ciacco, & Cordenunsi, 2000; Englyst
et al., 1992; Pacheco-Delahaye, Perez, & Schnell, 2004) and repre-
sents an alternative source of indigestible carbohydrates and anti-
oxidants compounds. Several studies have suggested that
consumption of unripe bananas provides a beneficial effect on
human health, associated with indigestible components such as
resistant starch (Faisant, Buléon et al., 1995; Faisant, Gallant,
Bouchet, & Champ, 1995). Recently, several authors observed that
when unripe banana starch and flour is added to different foods
such as pasta (Hernández-Nava, Berrios, Pan, Osorio-Díaz, & Bello-
Pérez, 2009; Ovando-Martinez, Sáyago-Ayerdi, Agama-Acevedo,
Goñi, & Bello-Pérez, 2009; Rendon-Villalobos, Osorio-Díaz,
Agama-Acevedo, Tovar, & Bello-Perez, 2008; Saifullah, Abbas, Yeoh,
& Azhar, 2009), bread (Juárez-García, Agama-Acevedo, Sáyago-
Ayerdi, Rodríguez-Ambriz, & Bello-Pérez, 2006) and cookies
(Aparicio-Saguilán et al., 2007; Fasolin, de Almeida, Castanho, &
Netto-Olveira, 2007). All of which presented high resistant starch
content, but starch digestion rate was not tested. The objective of
this study was to develop a cookie with unripe banana flour and
very few additional ingredients in the formulation to evaluate its
starch digestibility.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Banana flour preparation
Commercial hard green (unripe) preclimacteric bananas (Musa
paradisiaca L.) in the stage 2 (color index) (Aurore, Parfait, &
Fahrasmane, 2009) were purchased from the local market in
Cuautla, Morelos, México. They were peeled, cut into 1 cm slices
and immediately rinsed in citric acid solution (0.3 g/100 mL).
The slices were dried at 50  C and subsequently ground using
a commercial grinder (Mapisa Internacional, Distrito Federal,
México) to pass a US 50 sieve (0.3 mm) and stored at 25  C in sealed
plastic containers for further analysis.
2.2. Sample preparation
For the preparation of the cookies, raw materials were acquired
in local supermarkets and stored in glass/plastic containers at room
temperature (25  C), or under refrigeration (4  C) depending on the
storage requirements of the material. The formulations for
the cookies are presented in Table 1. No sugar was added to reduce
the amount of glycemic carbohydrates. The ingredients were mixed
Table 1
Formulation of cookies added with unripe banana flour.
Ingredient Control cookie Substitution with unripe banana flour
Cookie Cookie Cookie
15-UBF 30-UBF 50-UBF
Wheat flour (g)a 350 297.5 245 175
Banana flour (g)a 0 52.5 105 175
Butter (g) 15 15 15 15
Egg (piece) 1 1 1 1
Water (ml) 15 15 15 15
15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g Unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g Unripe banana flour,
50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g Unripe banana flour.
a
Dry matter basis.
completely in a Kitchen aid mixer (KitchenAid, Model KPRA,
St. Joseph, MI, USA) and the dough was laminated in the same
machine at a 0.4 cm height. The dough was cut in circles of 5 cm of
diameter and placed on an aluminum mold. The cookies were
baked in a household oven (Hotpoint, 6B4411LO, Leisser, San Luis
Potosi, México), at an approximate temperature of 180  C for
25 min. Once baked, the cookies were allowed to cool for 30 min.
The cookies were ground using a commercial grinder (Mapisa
Internacional, Distrito Federal, México), sieved (300 mm) and stored
at room temperature in sealed plastic containers.
2.3. Chemical composition
Moisture content was determined by gravimetric heating
(130 C  2  C for 2 h) using a 2e3 g sample. Ash, protein and fat
were analyzed according to AACC (2000) methods 08-01, 46-13 and
30-25 respectively. The dietary fiber method (DF) was tested using
992.16 AOAC (2005).
2.4. In vitro digestibility tests
Total starch content was determined by the Goñi’s method
(Goñi, García, Mañas, & Saura-Calixto, 1996). In short, a 50 mg
sample was dispersed in 2 mol l1 KOH to hydrolyze all the
starch (30 min) and subsequently incubated (60  C, 45 min, pH
4.75) with amyloglucosidase (Roche No. 102 857, Roche Diag-
nostics, Indianapolis, IN, USA). Glucose content was then
determined using the glucose oxidase/peroxidase (GOD/PAD)
assay (SERA-PAKÒ Plus, Bayer de México). Total starch content
was calculated as glucose (mg)  0.9. Potato starch was used as
a reference.
Total resistant starch was measured by the Goñi’s method (Goñi
et al., 1996). This method reports the sum of native indigestible
fractions, retrograded fractions, and a substantial part of physically
inaccessible starch (Tovar, 2001). In brief, the protocol comprises
protein removal with pepsin P-7012 (Sigma Chemical, St Louis, MO,
USA) at 40  C and pH 1.5 for 1 h, incubation with amylase A-3176
(Sigma Chemical) at 37  C for 16 h to hydrolyze digestible starch,
treatment of the precipitate with 2 mol l1 KOH, incubation with
amyloglucosidase A-7255 (Sigma Chemical) at 60  C and pH 4.75
for 45 min and determination of glucose using the GOD/PAD assay
(SERA-PAKÒ Plus, Bayer de México).
Potentially available starch content was determined by the
subtracting the difference of total starch by resistant starch.
The in vitro rate of hydrolysis was measured using hog pancre-
atic a-amylase according to Holm et al. (Holm, Björck, Asp, Sjöberg,
& Lundquist, 1985). Each assay was run with 500 mg of available
starch. Predicted Glycemic Index was calculated from the a-amy-
lolysis curves, using the empiric formula proposed by Goñi et al.
(Goñi, Gracía & Saura-Calixto, 1997).
 E. Agama-Acevedo et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 46 (2012) 177e182 179

2.5. Determination of rapidly digestible (RDS) and slowly digestible Table 2

(SDS) starch Chemical composition of cookies added with unripe banana flour (g/100 g).

Sample Control Cookie Cookie Cookie

RDS and SDS were measured on the basis of Englyst et al. (1992).
Samples of food (containing < 0.8 g carbohydrate) were weighed
into a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask, and 50 mg of guar gum powder was
added. At that point, 10 ml freshly prepared pepsin solution (50 mg
pepsin/10 ml 0.05 mol l1 HCl) was added. The flasks were placed
into a water bath at 37  C for 30 min to allow for hydrolysis of the
proteins by pepsin. Five milliliters 0.5 mol l1 sodium acetate was
added to each tube to form a buffer at pH 5.2. By shaking water
bath, the glass beads mechanically disrupt the physical structure of
the samples during incubation. At that point, 5 ml of enzyme
mixture was added and the shaking action of the water bath
commenced. This was deemed time zero for incubation and was
not interrupted until all the G120 portions were collected (see
below). The enzyme mixture was added to each flask at 1-min
intervals to aid timing of incubations. After 20 min, an aliquot
(0.5 ml, G20) from each flask was taken into a centrifuge tube
containing 20 ml of ethanol (66 g/L). After 100 min, a second 0.5 ml
sample (G120) was taken in the same way. The G20 and G120 portions
were centrifuged at low speed (1500g) for 5 min.
When all the G120 portions had been collected, the flasks were
placed together in a boiling water bath for 30 min. The flasks
contents were again vortex mixed and then cooled in ice water for
15 min. At that point, 10 ml potassium hydroxide 7 mol l1 was
added. The flasks were placed in a shaking water bath containing
ice water and shaken for 30 min. Flasks were removed one-by-one
from the ice water and 1 ml of the contents was poured into tubes
containing 10 ml of acetic acid (0.5 mol l1). Amyloglucosidase
solution was added to the flasks then were subsequently mixed,
and placed into a 70  C water bath for 30 min followed by 10 min in
a boiling water bath. The tubes were cooled at room temperature
before the addition of 40 ml water, capped, and mixed. The tubes
were then centrifuged at 1500  g for 5 min. This process provided
the total glucose (TG) portion.
The glucose was determined from G20 and G120 using glucose
oxidase/peroxidase assay (SERA-PAKÒ Plus, Bayer de México).
2.6. Statistical analysis
Results are expressed as the mean  standard error of three
separate determinations. Comparison of means was performed by
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s test
with a significance level of 5%. Statistical analyses were run using
SPSS Version 6.0 software (SPSS Institute, Cary, NC, USA).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Chemical composition
Moisture content of cookies increased when unripe banana flour
(UBF) in the formulation increased (Table 2) and those cookies with
UBF had higher moisture content than control sample. This pattern
is due to the dietary fiber content of UBF because values between
10.4 (Rodríguez-Ambríz, Islas-Hernández, Agama-Acevedo, Tovar,
& Bello-Pérez, 2008) and 14.5 g/100 g (Juárez-García et al., 2006)
were reported. Dietary fiber retains important amounts of water in
the food products where it is added as functional ingredient.
Cookies are characterized by a low water content that increases
their shelf-life. Canett-Romero et al. (Canett-Romero et al., 2004)
did not find differences in the moisture content of cookies prepared
with different deseeded grape pomace level. However, we think
that the cookie with the lowest level of substitution (5 g/100 g)
presented the lowest moisture content and no difference was
cookie 15-UBF 30-UBF 50-UBF
Moisture* 3.8  0.1a 4.7  0.2b 6.0  0.3c 6.4  0.2c
Ash 0.6  0.1a 0.9  0.1b 0.8  0.1b 0.9  0.1b
Protein** 9.5  0.3a 9.5  0.2a 8.6  0.0b 7.5  0.0c
Fat 6.9  0.4a 6.7  0.7a 5.4  0.5b 4.0  0.9c
Dietary fiber 4.8  0.2a 6.6  0.3b 8.8  0.2c 10.9  0.4d
15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g Unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g Unripe banana flour,
50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g Unripe banana flour. Values are means of three
replicates  standard error. Dry matter basis. Means in row not sharing the same
letter are significantly different (P < 0.05).
*g water/100 mL.
**N  6.25.
determined with the highest level of substitution (7.5 and
10 g/100 g) (Canett-Romero et al., 2004). Cookies added with
resistant starch-rich banana powder presented moisture content of
5.7 g/100 g, and this value was slightly higher than its control
(Aparicio-Saguilán et al., 2007). A similar cookie type was prepared
adding native corn or banana starch to wheat flour (Bello-Pérez,
Sáyago-Ayerdi, Méndez-Montealvo, & Tovar, 2004), exhibiting
moisture levels that resemble those presented here (4e5 g/100 g).
Protein content of cookies added with 15 or 30 g/100 g of UBF
did not change (a ¼ 0.05) compared with the control (Table 2). At
the highest UBF level, protein content decreased. This pattern is due
to the dilution effect produced by the UBF, which presents lower
protein content in comparison to wheat flour (Juárez-García et al.,
2006). A similar pattern was found in spaghetti prepared with
UBF (Ovando-Martinez et al., 2009). Cookies added with resistant
starch-rich powder presented a lower value (5.1 g/100 g) due to the
wheat flour substitution in the formulation (Aparicio-Saguilán
et al., 2007). Cookies prepared with 15 g/100 g of UBF and the
control cookies presented similar fat content, and when UBF level
increased in the formulation, fat content decreased (a ¼ 0.05). This
pattern can be related with the viscosity produced by the dietary
fiber of UBF that avoided the fat extraction during the test
(Rodríguez-Ambríz et al., 2008; Tovar, Björck, & Asp, 1992). Higher
fat content was observed in cookies with deseeded grape pomace
and the level of this raw material in the formulation did not affect
this component (Canett-Romero et al., 2004). A slight increase in
ash content was assessed in cookies prepared with UBF, and no
statistical difference (a ¼ 0.05) was determined when UBF was
increased in the formulation. This pattern is related to the higher
ash content present in UBF (Juárez-García et al., 2006) due to the
potassium content in the fruit (Bello-Perez et al., 2011). An increase
in total dietary fiber content (a ¼ 0.05) was determined in the
cookies partially substituted with UBF and this amount increased
when the concentration of UBF increased in the formulation
(Table 2). Lower total dietary fiber was assessed in fiber-rich
cookies (3.7 and 6.0 g/100 g) with a higher amount of the insol-
uble fraction (Sangronis & Rebolledo, 1993). Cookie with mango
dietary fiber presented higher total dietary fiber content
(17.4 g/100 g) with higher amount of the insoluble fraction. This can
be attributed to the fact that whole mangoes (pulp and peel) were
used (Vergara-Valencia et al., 2007).
Total starch content is very important for the amount of glucose
liberated during digestion of the product. Total starch was higher
(a ¼ 0.05) when UBF was increased in the formulation (Table 3).
This pattern is related to the higher starch content (73.4 g/100 g) in
UBF (Juárez-García et al., 2006). Cookies prepared with mango
dietary fiber (45.5 g/100 g) and resistant starch-rich powder of
banana (48.5 g/100 g) presented lower starch content (Aparicio-
Saguilán et al., 2007; Vergara-Valencia et al., 2007). However,
180 E. Agama-Acevedo et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 46 (2012) 177e182
Table 3
Total starch (TS), available starch (AS) and resistant starch (RS) of cookies added with
unripe banana flour (g/100 g).
Sample Control Cookie Cookie
cookie 15-UBF 30-UBF
TS 52.3  1.7a 58.1  0.7b 60.8  0.7c
AS* 49.9 54.9 56.16
RS 2.3  0.1a 3.1  0.2b 5.44  0.2c
15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g Unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g Unripe banana flour,
50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g Unripe banana flour. Values are means of three
replicates  standard error. Dry matter basis. Means in row not sharing the same
letter in the row are significantly different (P < 0.05).
*Values calculated as the difference between TS and RS.
commercial products had higher starch content: cracker (66.5) and
a high-Ca cracker (57.4 g/100 g) (Englyst, Vinoy, Englyst, & Lang,
2003). Part of total starch content can be available for hydrolysis
by digestive enzymes, this is named available starch (AS). Similar
pattern to that observed for total starch was found for AS, where AS
content increased (a ¼ 0.05) when UBF increased in the cookies
(Table 2). Similar AS content was determined in bread prepared
with UBF (54.9 g/100 g) (Juárez-García et al., 2006) and cookies
added with 15 g/100 g of UBF. However, cookies prepared with
resistant starch-rich powder of banana presented lower AS value
(40.1 g/100 g) (Aparicio-Saguilán et al., 2007). Cookies prepared
with UBF presented an increase (a ¼ 0.05) in resistant starch (RS)
content (Table 3). Increase up to 100% in RS content (5.44 g/100 g)
was calculated when UBF increased 30% in the formulation
compare with the control sample (2.3 g/100 g). Unripe banana is
considered the natural product with the highest RS content (Faisant
et al., 1995a). Cookies made with regular wheat flour had a resistant
starch content of 1.48 g/100 g and those added with resistant
starch-rich banana powder 8.42 g/100 g (Aparicio-Saguilán et al.,
2007). A similar pattern was observed in bread created with UBF,
where control bread had an RS content of 1 g/100 g and UBF bread
6.7 g/100 g (Juárez-García et al., 2006).
3.2. Rate of enzymatic starch hydrolysis
Cookies prepared with UBF and the control presented a rapid
increase in the hydrolysis rate in the first 15 min of the test and
thereafter a plateau was reached where a constant liberation of
glucose was produced (Fig. 1). The hydrolysis percentage decreased
(a ¼ 0.05) when UBF level in the cookies increased. The indigestible
carbohydrates (dietary fiber and resistant starch) present in UBF are
responsible of this pattern. Another protocol where starch hydro-
lysis index (HI) of products “as eaten” was used for cookies added
100
80
Hydrolysis [%]
60
40
20
0 Cookie 15-UBF
0 15 30 45 60 75
Time [min]
Fig. 1. Hydrolysis rate of cookies prepared with unripe banana flour (UBF) at different
level. A, control cookie; -, 15-UBF; :, 30-UBF; C 50-UBF (15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g
unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g unripe banana flour, 50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g
unripe banana flour).
with a resistant starch-rich powder of banana, presenting lower HI
and predicted glycemic index (pGI) than its control sample
(Aparicio-Saguilán et al., 2007). Using the same protocol of prod-
Cookie ucts “as eaten”, bread added with UBF was evaluated; exhibiting
50-UBF lower HI and pGI values than the control bread (Juárez-García et al.,
66.5  0.7d 2006).
58.13
The starch hydrolysis rate data allowed calculation of pGI
8.37  0.6d
according to Goñi, García, and Saura-Calixto (1997). Control
cookies presented the highest pGI value (Table 4), and this
parameter decreased when the UBF increased in the cookie. This
pattern agrees with the RS content determined in the cookies with
UBF. Using another protocol, pGI of 60.5 was reported for cookies
with resistant starch-rich banana powder; 77.6 for the control
cookies (Aparicio-Saguilán et al., 2007), 64.3 for bread prepared
with UBF of 64.3 and 78.8 for the control bread (Juárez-García
et al., 2006). The method used can explain the differences
among products as was reported for tortilla (Bello-Pérez, Rendon-
Villalobos, Agama-Acevedo, & Islas-Hernández, 2006).
3.3. Rapidly digestible starch (RDS) and slowly digestible starch
(SDS) starch
Cookies added with UBF had lower rapidly digestible starch
(RDS) than the control and RDS decreased when UBF increased in
the cookie (a ¼ 0.05) (Table 5). During baking the semicrystalline
structure of native starch is disorganized and is readily hydrolyzed
by digestive enzymes (Zhang, Ao, & Hamaker, 2006). However, the
presence of indigestible carbohydrates from UBF produces a dilu-
tion effect decreasing the RDS.
Slowly digestible starch (SDS) content of control and cookie
prepared with 15 g/100 g of UBF was similar (a ¼ 0.05). An increase
in SDS was observed when the amount of UBF increased in the
cookie. During baking, starch structure is disorganized and
depending on the starch structure amylose and some long external
chains of amylopectin are depolymerized, but during cooling starch
reorganization is carried out and this reorganized structure can be
slowly hydrolyzed by digestive enzymes. Additionally, the low
moisture content in the dough can avoid the complete gelatiniza-
tion of starch present in the formulation. Cereal starches (A-type
X-ray diffraction pattern) are characterized by a high amount of
short chains in amylopectin and banana starch presented B-type
X-ray diffraction pattern (Bello-Pérez, Ottenhof, Agama-Acevedo, &
Farhat, 2005) with higher amount of long chains in its amylopectin.
The structural differences in both starches can explain this pattern.
SDS of cooked normal maize starch was 8.3 g/100 g (Zhang et al.,
2006) which is similar to that determined in the control cookies.
Crackers have a 6.8 and 9.6 g/100 g value of slowly available glucose
(Englyst et al., 2003), which are comparable to those determined in
the cookies analyzed here. Products with high level of SDS
provide the nutritional benefits of starch (as supply of glucose),
because these do not produce postprandial hyperglycemic and
Table 4
Predicted glycemic index* of cookies prepared with unripe banana flour.
Sample Predicted
glycemic index
Control cookie 116.8a
115.2a
90 Cookie 30-UBF 106.5b
Cookie 50-UBF 98.6c
15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g Unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g Unripe
banana flour, 50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g Unripe banana flour.
*Calculated from the equation proposed by Goñi et al. (1997)
GI ¼ 39.21 þ 0.803(H90). Means in column not sharing the same letter
are significantly different (P < 0.05).
 E. Agama-Acevedo et al. / LWT - Food Science and Technology 46 (2012) 177e182
Table 5
Rapidly and slowly digestible starch values of cookies added with different unripe
banana flour (UBF) level (g/100 g)*.
Determination Control Cookie Cookie Cookie
15-UBF 30-UBF 50-UBF
Rapidly digested 61.8  1.20d 58.9  0.89c 55.4  0.47b 52.8  0.86a
starch
Slowly digested 8.3  0.80a 8.7  0.90a,b 9.3  0.98b 10.9  0.73c
starch
15-UBF ¼ 15 g/100 g Unripe banana flour, 30-UBF ¼ 30 g/100 g Unripe banana flour,
50-UBF ¼ 50 g/100 g Unripe banana flour.
*For cereal bar formulation see Table 1.Values are means of three
replicates  standard error. Dry matter basis. Means in row not sharing the same
letter are significantly different (P < 0.05).
hyperinsulinemic spikes associated with the RDS consumption
(Han & BeMiller, 2007).
Cookies prepared with UBF presented important characteristics
of starch digestion therefore could be an alternative for people with
special caloric requirements.
4. Conclusions
Differences in the chemical composition were observed in
cookies prepared with UBF, with lower protein content, and higher
dietary fiber than control cookies. An important increase in resis-
tant starch content was calculated in cookies added with UBF. This
was reflected in the lower hydrolysis percentages and in the pre-
dicted glycemic index. The rapidly digestible starch decreased and
the slowly digestible starch increased when UBF increased in the
cookies. Cookies prepared with UBF presented important starch
digestion characteristics and, therefore, could be a nutritional
alternative for people with health problems such as diabetes and
obesity.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank and acknowledge the financial support
provided by SIP, COFAA, and EDI - Instituto Politécnico Nacional. We
are grateful to Robb Anderson for review of the manuscript.
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