Starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index in the bread fortified with pomelo (Citrus maxima) fruit segments

The aim of this study was to evaluate the starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index in breads incorporated with pomelo fruit (Citrus maxima) segments. Volume of the white and brown breads supplemented with pomelo fresh segments increased, while the crumb firmness decreased. Bread with 20% fresh and 5% dry pomelo segments were sensorily acceptable. Bioactive components such as phenolics, flavonoids, naringin and carotenoids were retained to a greater extent in bread containing dry pomelo segments. The pomelo incorporated bread had higher levels of resistant starch fractions (3.87-10.96%) with low predicted glycemic index (62.97-53.13%), despite their higher total starch (69.87-75.47%) content compared to control bread. Thus pomelo segments in the product formulations lowered the glycemic index probably by inhibiting carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzyme activity which could be attributed to naringin. Hence fortified bread prepared from pomelo fruit segment is recommended to gain nutritional value and to decrease the risk of diabetes.