Glycaemic index of parboiled rice depends on the severity of processing: study in type 2 diabetic subjects

Objective: To study the influence of parboiling and the severity of the process on glycaemic and insulinaemic responses to rice in type 2 diabetes. Moreover, to examine changes in starch structure related to parboiling, which may affect the metabolic responses and digestibility.Design: Nine type 2 diabetic subjects ingested four test meals: white bread (WB) and three meals of cooked polished rice of the same variety being non-parboiled (NP), mildly traditionally parboiled (TP) and severely pressure parboiled (PP). The participants ingested the test meals (50 g available carbohydrates) on separate occasions after an overnight fast.Setting: Outpatient clinic, Dept. Endocrinology and Metabolism, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.Results: All three rice samples elicited lower postprandial plasma glucose response (NP: 335±43; TP: 274±53; PP: 231±37 mmol/1*180 min.; means±s.e.m.) than white bread (626±80; P<0.001), within rice samples PP tended to be lower than NP (P=0.07). The glycaemic indices were: NP: 55±5, TP: 46±8 and PP: 39±6, and lower for PP than NP (P<0.05). The insulin responses were similar for the three rice meals, which were all lower than that to white bread (P<0.001). Differential scanning calorimetry showed the presence of amylose–lipid complexes in all rice samples and of retrograded amylopectin in PP. Amylose retrogradation was not detected in any of the rice samples.Conclusions: All rice test meals were low-glycaemic in type 2 diabetic subjects. There was no effect of TP on glycaemic index, whereas PP reduced the glycaemic index by almost 30% compared to NP.Sponsorship: The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Aarhus University Hospital, Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ‘Konsul Johannes Fogh-Nielsens og Fru Ella Fogh-Nielsens Legat’ foundation.European Journal of Clinical Nurtition (2000) 54, 380–385