Microbial Physiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB), University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;60(1):123-146. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2018.1516621. Epub 2018 Dec 11.
The glycemic carbohydrates we consume are currently viewed in an unfavorable light in both the consumer and medical research worlds. In significant part, these carbohydrates, mainly starch and sucrose, are looked upon negatively due to their rapid and abrupt glucose delivery to the body which causes a high glycemic response. However, dietary carbohydrates which are digested and release glucose in a slow manner are recognized as providing health benefits. Slow digestion of glycemic carbohydrates can be caused by several factors, including food matrix effect which impedes α-amylase access to substrate, or partial inhibition by plant secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds. Differences in digestion rate of these carbohydrates may also be due to their specific structures (e.g. variations in degree of branching and/or glycosidic linkages present). In recent years, much has been learned about the synthesis and digestion kinetics of novel α-glucans (i.e. small oligosaccharides or larger polysaccharides based on glucose units linked in different positions by α-bonds). It is the synthesis and digestion of such structures that is the subject of this review.
我们所消耗的血糖碳水化合物，在消费者和医学研究领域都受到了不利的看待。在很大程度上，这些碳水化合物，主要是淀粉和蔗糖，由于它们快速而突然地向人体输送葡萄糖，导致高血糖反应，因此被负面看待。然而，缓慢消化和释放葡萄糖的膳食碳水化合物被认为对健康有益。血糖碳水化合物的缓慢消化可能由多种因素引起，包括食物基质效应，它阻碍了α-淀粉酶对底物的接近，或者植物次生代谢物（如酚类化合物）的部分抑制。这些碳水化合物消化速度的差异也可能是由于它们的特定结构（例如分支程度和/或糖苷键的存在的变化）。近年来，人们对新型α-葡聚糖（即基于葡萄糖单元通过α键连接在不同位置的小寡糖或更大多糖）的合成和消化动力学有了更多的了解。本文综述了这些结构的合成和消化。
