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Escalating diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and bowel syndrome have increased consumer awareness of nutrition and energy values of starch products. Slowly digestible starch (SDS), slowly digestible maltooligosaccharides (SDM), and highly branched maltooligosaccharides, so called isomaltooligosaccharides (IMOs), generated by enzyme modification of starch, provide a new concept to meet consumer demands and solve urgent health‐associated problems. The combination of starch‐active enzymes in the glucanotransferase and glucanohydrolase families to produce slowly digestible‐ and non‐digestible α‐glucans has been widely studied, mainly focusing on the activities of branching enzyme (BE), amylomaltase (AM), and α‐transglucosidase (TGase). Products obtained from the action of these enzymes have resulted in completely novel types of maltooligosaccharides that are slowly degraded and therefore digested in the small intestine to maintain regulated blood glucose levels and suppressed glycemic‐index response. Some IMOs can even escape the small intestine and become fermented by micro‐organisms in the large intestine to produce health‐promoting short‐chain fatty acids such as butyric acid. Such slowly digested α‐glucans can regulate and trigger health‐promoting gut hormone release. Different novel production strategies of health‐promoting α‐glucans, their structures and nutritional effects are discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermostable branching enzyme (BE, EC 2.4.1.18) from Rhodothermus obamensis in combination with amylomaltase (AM, EC 2.4.1.25) from Thermus thermophilus was used to modify starch structure exploring potentials to extensively increase the number of branch points in starch. Amylose is an important constituent in starch and the effect of amylose on enzyme catalysis was investigated using amylose-only barley starch (AO) and waxy maize starch (WX) in well-defined ratios. All products were analysed for amylopectin chain length distribution, α-1,6 glucosidic linkages content, molar mass distribution and digestibility by using rat intestinal α-glucosidases. For each enzyme treatment series, increased AO content resulted in a higher rate of α-1,6 glucosidic linkage formation but as an effect of the very low initial branching of the AO, the final content of α-1,6 glucosidic linkages was slightly lower as compared to the high amylopectin substrates. However, an increase specifically in short chains was produced at high AO levels. The molar mass distribution for the enzyme treated samples was lower as compared with substrate WX and AO, indicating the presence of hydrolytic activity as well as cyclisation of the substrate. For all samples, increased amylose substrate showed decreased α- and β-amylolysis. Surprisingly, hydrolysis with rat intestinal α-glucosidases was higher with increasing α-1,6 glucosidic linkage content and decreasing M ¯ w indicating that steric hindrance towards the α-glucosidases was directed by the molar mass rather that the branching density of the glucan per se. Our data demonstrate that a higher amylose content in the substrate starch efficiently produces α-1,6 glucosidic linkages and that the present of amylose generates a higher M ¯ w and more resistant product than amylopectin. The combination of BE → AM → BE provided somewhat more resistant α-glucan products as compared to BE alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch provides our main dietary caloric intake and over-consumption of starch-containing foods results in escalating life-style disease including diabetes. By increasing the content of α-1,6 branch points in starch, digestibility by human amylolytic enzymes is expected to be retarded. Aiming at generating a soluble and slowly digestible starch by increasing the content and changing the relative positioning of the branch points in the starch molecules, we treated cassava starch with amylomaltase (AM) and branching enzyme (BE). We performed a detailed molecular analysis of the products including amylopectin chain length distribution, content of α-1,6 glucosidic linkages, absolute molecular weight distribution and digestibility. Step-by-step enzyme catalysis was the most efficient treatment, and it generated branch structures even more extreme than those of glycogen. All AM- and BE-treated samples showed increased resistance to degradation by porcine pancreatic α-amylase and glucoamylase as compared to cassava starch. The amylolytic products showed chain lengths and branching patterns similar to the products obtained from glycogen. Our data demonstrate that combinatorial enzyme catalysis provides a strategy to generate potential novel soluble α-glucan ingredients with low dietary digestibility assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]