Measurement of Available Carbohydrates in Cereal and Cereal Products, Dairy Products, Vegetables, Fruit, and Related Food Products and Animal Feeds: First Action 2020.07

Background The level of available carbohydrates in our diet is directly linked to two major diseases: obesity and Type II diabetes. Despite this, to date there is no method available to allow direct and accurate measurement of available carbohydrates in human and animal foods. Objective The aim of this research was to develop a method that would allow simple and accurate measurement of available carbohydrates, defined as non-resistant starch, maltodextrins, maltose, isomaltose, sucrose, lactose, glucose, fructose, and galactose. Method Non-resistant (digestible) starch is hydrolyzed to glucose and maltose by pancreatic α-amylase (PAA) and amyloglucosidase at pH 6.0 with shaking or stirring at 37°C for 4 h. Sucrose, lactose, maltose, and isomaltose are completely hydrolyzed by specific enzymes to their constituent monosaccharides, which are then measured using pure enzymes in a single reaction cuvette. Results A method has been developed that allows the accurate measurement of available carbohydrates in all cereal, vegetable, fruit, food, and feed products, including dairy products. Conclusions A single-laboratory validation was performed on a wide range of food and feed products. The inter-day repeatability (RSDr, %) was Highlights A unique method has been developed for the direct measurement of available carbohydrates, entailing separate measurement of glucose, fructose, and galactose, information of value in determining the glycemic index of foods.