Digestibility and physicochemical properties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) flours and starches differing in amylose content

Digestibility of starches in four rice samples with amylose content (AC) from 1.7 to 55.4%, including a newly developed high-amylose rice, was investigated. An in vitro enzymatic starch digestion method and an AOAC method were applied to correlate rapidly digestible starch (RDS), slowly digestible starch (SDS), resistant starch (RS), and total dietary fiber (TDF) content with the AC in the samples. SDS content decreased and RS and TDF content increased with the increase in AC. The low-amylose rice (AC = 16.1%) had starch granules with weak crystalline structure and was lower in RS and TDF content even though it had a higher AC compared to waxy rice. The digestibility of the starches was not correlated with granule size or degree of crystallinity. The newly developed high-amylose rice starch exhibited a predominant B-type X-ray diffraction pattern, a great proportion of long chains in amylopectin, high gelatinization temperature, and semi-compound starch granules which are attributed to its increased resistance to enzyme digestion.