The Starch and Sugar Content of some Mexican Cereals, Cereal Products, Pulses, Snack Foods, Fruits and Vegetables

The starch and sugar content of 72 Mexican foods, including cereals, cereal products, pulses, snack foods, vegetables and fruits collected from a rural area and Mexico City were measured. The manufactured food products had a wide range of compositions reflecting differences in ingredients. Both maize and wheat tortillas, one of the cereal staple foods, had very little free sugars. The starch and free sugar contents of many of these local food were quite different from those available in published food tables and so may serve, together with those published for non-starch polysaccharides, as the basis for dietary studies in Latin America.