Effect of mulberry fruit extract on post-prandial glycaemic and insulinemic responses to different rice types: a randomised trial in healthy adults.

We previously reported that the addition of a specified mulberry fruit extract (MFE) to rice consistently reduces post-prandial glycaemic (PPG) and post-prandial insulinemic (PPI) responses. This research tested whether this effect generalises to a broad range of rice types, reflecting the wide variation in rice characteristics known to influence glycaemic responses. In a randomised, balanced, partial factorial crossover design, Sona Masoori (SM), Bora Saul (BS), Gobindobogh (Gb) and Banskati (Bn) rices were tested with and without 0·37 g MFE.

Efficacy of different fibres and flour mixes in South-Asian flatbreads for reducing post-prandial glucose responses in healthy adults.

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is increasing, particularly in South-East Asia. Intake of high-glycaemic foods has been positively associated with T2DM, and feasible routes to reduce the glycaemic response to carbohydrate-rich staple foods are needed. The research question was whether different fibre and legume flour mixes in flatbreads lower postprandial glucose (PPG) responses.

A systematic review of the influence of rice characteristics and processing methods on postprandial glycaemic and insulinaemic responses.

Rice is an important staple food for more than half of the world's population. Especially in Asian countries, rice is a major contributor to dietary glycaemic load (GL). Sustained consumption of higher-GL diets has been implicated in the development of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Straightforward preparation of organic colloidal particles by harnessing spontaneous non-covalent interactions of active molecules from natural origin.

We demonstrate a straightforward method to prepare organic colloidal particles based on the spontaneous molecular interactions between small molecular weight actives of natural origin. Representative reactive natural actives from three of the most researched classes of phytochemicals including berberine (isoquinoline alkaloid), tannic acid (polyphenol) and glycyrrhizin (olenane type saponin) were chosen for the study. Binding parameters (association constant, binding enthalpy and entropy) obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry indicated that berberine strongly interacted with tannic acid to form insoluble colloidal complex which could be stabilised in the presence of glycyrrhizin (due to its interaction with both berberine and tannic acid and also due to its amphiphilic nature).

Effect of phytosterols and phytostanols on the solubilization of cholesterol by dietary mixed micelles: an in vitro study.

The effect of a plant sterol, beta-sitosterol (SI), and a plant stanol, sitostanol (SS), on the solubilization of cholesterol (CH) by model dietary mixed micelles was examined under in vitro conditions with the use of gas chromatography, isothermal titration calorimetry, NMR spectroscopy and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy techniques. Free SI and SS were shown to reduce the concentration of CH in dietary mixed micelles via a dynamic competition mechanism. CH, SI and SS affect the microstructure of lipid vesicles and influence the process of amphiphilic self-assembly of nutrients in the gut with the formation of dietary mixed micelles in a similar manner.

Can cholesterol absorption be reduced by phytosterols and phytostanols via a cocrystallization mechanism?

The formation of mixed water-insoluble poorly absorbable crystals between cholesterol (CH) and phytosterols (PS) or phytostanols (PSS) in the intestinal lumen has been considered for a long time as a plausible mechanism of the PS/PSS-induced reduction of serum CH concentration. In this report, we demonstrated with the use of the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques that mixed CH:beta-sitosterol (SI) crystals can be formed by recrystallization of corresponding mixtures from melts and also from mixed CH:SI solutions in triglyceride oil. Formation of mixed CH:SI crystals takes place in a wide interval of CH:SI ratios, from approximately 10 up to approximately 75 wt.