Food Microstructure and Starch Digestion
The starch digestion in
mammals and humans is very similar due to the build of the gastrointestinal tract and
enzymes in that tract.
Slide 5
The microstructure of natural foods influences how the chemical and mechanical food
processing is carried out. Cells of the raw food generally rupture but cells in cooked food
separate because therma processing destabilizes pectic material. The texture of food is
influenced by parenchyma cell size, cell wall composition and thickness. The abudance of
starch in cell and the shape and sizes of the granules is also important for the food texture.
For example it is reported that in potatoes that have higher strach content and closely packed
cell arrangement, the fracturability is higher. Cooking or just thermal heating starch leads to
an increase of hydrolysis and therefore makes it easier for enzymatic attack in the
gastrointestinaal tract.
Slide 6
Starch digestion is also different in various foods with diferent components. Proteins that
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