Martedi 03/10/2023 ore 15:00 in Aula A15 SAFE, la prof.ssa Olga Amal, dell’Instituto Politécnico de Beja (Departamento de Tecnologias e Ciências Aplicadas), Portogallo, terrà un seminario dal titolo:
Dietary fiber in our diet – the case of resistant starch (di seguito l’abstract del seminario)
Dietary fiber is a group of essential nutrients in our diet. They are present in foods of plant origin and have very specific functions that promote better health. From a chemical point of view, dietary fiber belongs to the group of carbohydrates and what they have in common is that they are not digested by the digestive tract, meaning they do not provide energy to the body.
The definition of dietary fiber has evolved over time and one of the most recent updates included resistant starch (RS) in this group. RS is one of the starch fractions that resists the digestive process and is hydrolyzed in the colon by the intestinal microbiota. In this way, RS behaves like a prebiotic and presents several physiological benefits resulting from the compounds formed during fermentation.
There is evidence that RA contributes favourably to colon health, including reducing the risk of colorectal cancer and a positive effect on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases has also been demonstrated. As a component of dietary fiber it can help in the prevention and control of obesity and the influence of RS on the glycemic response suggests benefits in the prevention and control of diabetes and also in the induction of satiety.
We have developed a line of research that aims to promote the formation and increase of AR in traditional food products, characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet, namely bread. These works have led to several master’s theses, a doctoral thesis, several publications in refereed journals and even a patent. It is this research that we intend to present and eventually, if it is interesting, create partnerships in this line of work.