Glycemic Index Values of Pasta Products: An Overview.

Giuseppe Di Pede,Cecilia Scarpa,Margherita Dall’Asta,Furio Brighenti,Rossella Dodi,Francesca Scazzina

doi:10.3390/foods10112541

Giuseppe Di Pede, Cecilia Scarpa + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112541

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Abstract

Durum wheat pasta is considered a low-glycemic index (GI) food. In recent years, the interest in developing enriched pasta has increased. Since both the formulation and processing technologies may affect the GI, this study aimed to investigate the GI values of pasta products (pp) reported in the literature until 2020. GI values of pp analyzed following the ISO guidelines were included in this survey. A total of 95 pp were identified and, according to their formulation, classified into 10 categories (n, mean GI): category n 1: 100% refined wheat (35, 55); category n 2: 100% whole wheat (6, 52); category n 3: other cereal-based products (8, 52); category n 4: containing egg (5, 52); category n 5: gluten free (11, 60); category n 6: containing legumes (9, 46); category n 7: noodles and vermicelli (9, 56); category n 8: containing vegetable or algae (6, 51); category n 9: containing other ingredients (5, 37); category n 10: stuffed (1, 58). Overall, pasta is confirmed to be a medium–low-GI food, even if a high variability among or within each category emerged. The formulation of enriched pp able to elicit a controlled glycemic response could represent a strategy to improve the nutritional value of pasta.

Highlights

Cereals, tubers and pulses are the main dietary sources of carbohydrates within the human diet [1], which are well known as the main dietary components affecting postprandial blood glucose levels [2,3,4]
Category n 1 (100% refined wheat) was the largest group, including 35 items, among which six values were collected for 100% whole wheat pasta, eight for other cerealbased products, five for egg pasta, 11 for gluten free (GF), nine for products containing legume, nine for noodles and vermicelli, six for pasta containing vegetable or algae, five for items containing other ingredients, and only one for stuffed pasta
No data on medium glycemic index (GI) food items were recovered for products containing egg and containing other ingredients

Summary

Introduction

Tubers and pulses are the main dietary sources of carbohydrates within the human diet [1], which are well known as the main dietary components affecting postprandial blood glucose levels [2,3,4]. The glycemic index (GI), proposed by Jenkins [5], is a tool for quantifying the relative rise in blood glucose level after consuming a carbohydratecontaining food. A traditional food item within the Italian diet, is globally consumed, becoming an important source of complex carbohydrates (i.e., starch) in many countries [7,8]. Postprandial studies conducted in both healthy and diabetic volunteers confirmed that durum wheat pasta induced a lower postprandial glucose response than other wheat-based products (i.e., bread) by virtue of its compact dense physical structure (dried pasta) and the network of gluten surrounding the starch granules [13,14,15,16].

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