Executive Summary : | Diabetes is a noncommunicable chronic disease which is an alarming public health problem in recent times. This disease develops in the body when pancreas fails to secrete enough insulin or body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. The number of diabetic patients is increasing worldwide. It had increased fourfold from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. Observations reveal that half of these populations live in India, China, USA, Brazil and Indonesia. India is among the top three countries with an enormous population of diabetics. Indian diabetic population has risen from 11.9 million in 1980 to 64.5 million in 2014. Type 2 diabetes where body cannot use the insulin it produces is prevalent among most diabetic patients. These adverse body conditions are often routed from improper diet and inadequate physical activity. In the instance of type 2 diabetes, control on the dietary intake and physical activity are proven alternatives to medicinal treatment. Consumption of soluble starch rich products often shoots up the glycemic index (GI) and is not recommended for diabetic patients. But for a developing country like India, where diets are mostly concentrated on starch rich cereal products like rice, restriction on the natural consumption pattern is really a difficult task. An easier approach of altering soluble starch structure can make cereals resistant to digestion and can be used as a part of their regular diet. Starch which is resistant against digestive enzymes is called resistant starch (RS). The present work focuses on the enhancement of resistant starch content in whole rice and rice-based snacks by modifying its post harvest processing (in parboiling and subsequent stages). Modification of the soluble starch to resistant starch in whole rice (without deviating the native appearance and sensory aspect) would be achieved through, but is not limited to different levels of combination of physical and chemical methods. Required biochemical tests and response analysis would be performed as per requirement. This would serve as a process technology for resistant starch rich whole rice production. The developed resistant starch rich rice would be further used to prepare rice-based snack (Puffed rice). Subsequent modification in preconditioning and instant heating steps of puffed rice production will result in modification in the puffed rice structure and come up with RS rich puffed rice. The puffed rice would be then further subjected to immediate cooling leading to further enhancement in structural and sensory quality. This would serve as a process technology for resistant starch rich puffed rice production. After development of both the process technology, a working prototype model for both the developed technology in the form of a mini processing line would be fabricated and required additional suggestions would be provided to integrate it with existing rice mills & puffed rice production units. |