Redistribution of nutritionally important starch fractions beneficial to diabetic population by using oats as a functional ingredient in a wheat-based food product – Jereesh

Oats being important sources of β-glucan were incorporated at 10, 20 and 30% level in a wheat-based traditional Arabian breakfast cereal called Jereesh and evaluated for sensory acceptability. Sensory analysis reflected that the products with 10 and 20% oats incorporation were acceptable in terms of color, appearance, taste, aroma, mouthfeel, after taste and overall quality as indicated by the sensory scores which revealed no substantial differences between control jereesh (CJ) and oats incorporated jereesh (OJ). However, jereesh with 30% oats incorporation was very sticky (viscous) and scored low in sensory evaluation. Thus, nutritionally important starch fractions were measured in jereesh with 20% oats incorporation using a controlled in vitro multi-enzymatic method. Results indicated that, addition of oats at 20% level resulted in a substantial decrease (p<0.05) in total starch (TS), rapidly available glucose (RAG), and resistant starch content (RS), as well as a significant increase (p<0.05) in slowly digestible starch (SDS) compared to the control jereesh. The starch digestibility index remained unchanged. The findings of the study suggest that incorporation of oats helps in value addition of jereesh in terms of slow digestibility with increased soluble dietary fiber content that might lower glycemic index.