Slowly digestible
carbohydrates are needed for
nutritional support in diabetic patients with
malnutrition. They are a good source of energy and have the advantage that their consumption produces a low postprandial peak in
blood glucose levels because they are slowly and completely digested in the small intestine. A high-amount isomaltomegalosaccharide containing
carbohydrate (H-IMS), made from
starch by
dextrin dextranase, is a mixture of
glucose polymers which has a continuous linear structure of α-1,6-glucosidic bonds and a small number of α-1,4-glucosidic bonds at the reducing ends. It has a broad degree of polymerization (DP) distribution with
glucans of DP 10-30 as the major component. In our previous study, H-IMS has been shown to exhibit slow digestibility in vitro and not to raise postprandial
blood glucose to such levels as that raised by
dextrin in vivo. This marks it out as a potentially useful slowly digestible
carbohydrate, and this study aimed to evaluate its in vivo digestibility. The amount of breath
hydrogen emitted following
oral administration of H-IMS was measured to determine whether any indigestible fraction passed through to and was fermented in the large intestine. Total
carbohydrate in the feces was also measured. H-IMS, like
glucose and
dextrin, did not result in breath
hydrogen excretion.
Carbohydrate excretion with dietary H-IMS was no different from that of
glucose or water. These results show that the H-IMS is completely digested and absorbed in the small intestine, indicating its potential as a slowly digestible
carbohydrate in the diet of diabetic patients.