Savoury cracker development for blood glucose control and management

Abstract

A trial was undertaken to evaluate how a low sugar cracker format (GLY-HYP, 45 g) controlled blood glucose. Consumer sensory trials scored the products very highly (9/10). Clinical data were generated in volunteers ‘calibrated’ by consuming 50 g doses of glucose and trialled against a biscuit (45 g) brand that claimed up to four-hour energy release. The products contained a similar amount of carbohydrate - 66% (22% sugar) for the commercial biscuit and 61.5% (1.5% sugar) for the GLY-HYP crackers; which contained also 22.9% slowly digestible starch. After consuming 50 g glucose, blood glucose increased from ~5 mmol/l to a peak of ~9.3 mmol/l at 60 min then preceded to fall until 120 min to below baseline. Thereafter it fell to about 4.1 mmol/l at 180 min and recovered a little to 4.4 mmol/l at 240 min. The commercial biscuits blood glucose profiles rose to a peak at 30 min of ~6.6 mmol/l whereupon the concentration decreased slowly to ~5.2 mmol/l at 240 min. The GLY-HYP crackers reached a broad peak at 30 min too, 6.3 mmol/l, and then decreased slowly to ~5.2 mmol/l at 240 min. The commercial biscuits and GLY-HYP crackers contained 25.8 and 29.1% indigestible starch respectively after 240 min digestion. The GLY-HYP crackers can provide blood glucose control for up to at least four hours.