Resistant starch: an indigestible fraction of foods

Resistant starch (RS), the dietary starch that scape digestion in the small intestine, can yields up to 20% of the starch in cereal and legume products. Several fractions contribute to the total RS of foods: retrograded amylose, starch inaccessible to digestive enzymes because of mechanical barriers, chemically modified starch fragments, undigested starch due to α-amylase inhibitors and starch complexed with other food components. RS is formed in products processed following heat treatments (baking, extrusion, autoclaving, etc.). RS produces significant fecal bulking and is partially fermentable by anaerobic bacteria of the colon. On the other hand, the relation of resistant starch with the glucose and insulin response in human subjects is an important nutritional effect. RS analytical methods are reported.