Starch Digestion in Infants: An Update of Available In Vitro Methods—A Mini Review

Complementary feeding starts at around six months of age because neither breast milk nor formula assure the proper nutrition of infants. Therefore, along with breast milk, solid foods are gradually introduced, particularly cereal-based foods, which will provide starch as a new source of energy and n...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht) 2022-09, Vol.77 (3), p.345-352
Main Authors: Rodríguez, Marianela Desireé, León, Alberto Edel, Bustos, Mariela Cecilia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Babies
Breast milk
Breastfeeding & lactation
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Chemistry/Food Science
Digestibility
Digestion
Ecology
Energy sources
Food
Food Science
Formulations
Human nutrition
In vitro methods and tests
Infant nutrition
Infants
Nutrients
Nutrition
Plant Physiology
Review
Starch
Transit time
Weaning
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Complementary feeding starts at around six months of age because neither breast milk nor formula assure the proper nutrition of infants. Therefore, along with breast milk, solid foods are gradually introduced, particularly cereal-based foods, which will provide starch as a new source of energy and nutrients. As a result, the need of an adequate in vitro digestion method to study the influence of different aspects of weaning period is unquestionable. This critical review summarizes the in vitro digestion methods available for the analysis of starch hydrolysis under infant conditions considering different features, namely, starch digestion, infant digestive conditions and in vitro models suitable for the study of starch digestion (static, semi-dynamic and dynamic). Key factors such as enzyme concentrations, transit time, oral, gastric and intestinal conditions and differences with current adult models, have been addressed. The need for standardized infant digestion models adapted to the complementary feeding period was discussed. Existing literature data demonstrate that more effort has to be done to improve the research on this issue, in order to obtain comparable results that would address a better understanding of the digestibility of different food nutrients under infant conditions facilitating the development of appropriate formulations that may assure proper infant nutrition.
ISSN:0921-9668
1573-9104
DOI:10.1007/s11130-022-01001-1