Glycaemic index of Indian flatbreads (rotis) prepared using whole wheat flour and ‘atta mix’-added whole wheat flour

Abstract

To compare the glycaemic index (GI) of newly developed ‘atta mix’ roti with whole wheat flour roti. Eighteen healthy non-diabetic subjects consumed 50 g available carbohydrate portions of a reference food (glucose) and two test foods (whole wheat flour roti and atta mix roti) in random order after an overnight fast. The reference food was tested on three separate occasions, while the test foods were each tested once. Capillary blood samples were measured from finger-prick samples in fasted subjects (25 and 0 min) and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 min from the start of each food. No significant difference was observed between roti prepared from whole wheat flour and atta mix in terms of appearance, texture, flavour, taste or acceptability. For each test food, the incremental area under the curve and GI values were determined. The GI of atta mix roti (27·3 (SEM 2·2)) was considerably lower than the whole wheat flour roti (45·1 (SEM 3·5), P,0·001). Development of foods with lower dietary glycaemic load such as the atta mix roti could help in the prevention and control of diabetes in South Asian populations, which habitually consume very high glycaemic load diets.