| Category | BCHM | L05 | Resisting Digestion |
| Abstract | The purpose of this project is to discover if refrigerating starch- |
| containing foods make the starches in those foods more resistant to |
| being digested by the body. In theory, the process of refrigeration |
| creates these resistant starches. A resistant starch is one that is not |
| broken down into glucose immediately upon entering the small |
| intestines. These resistant starches result in smaller blood glucose |
| levels and less of an increase in the body’s insulin levels (“Response to |
| Three”). In order to test the digestion process of potatoes as resistant |
| starches, the potatoes will be prepared in two different ways. One |
| potato will be boiled for twenty minutes, cut into three parts and then |
| refrigerated. While the other potato will be cut into three parts and |
| boiled after having been in the refrigerator. One part from each potato |
| will be tested immediately while one will be in the refrigerator for 12 |
| hours and the other for 24 hours. In order to replicate the digestion |
| process in the body, the enzyme diastase will take the place of |
| amylase. Three grams of a 10% diluted potato solution will be mixed |
| with three grams of a 10% diluted diastase solution. The instant the two |
| solutions are mixed a timer will start and every five minutes for two |
| hours the glucose level will be tested using Urine Reagent Strips. The |
| glucose level indicates the amount to which the starch has been |
| digested over a given period of time. Lower glucose levels would |
| indicate that the starches are more resistant. In the data analysis, a line |
| of best fit will be calculated to the data, and the slopes and y-intercepts |
| of the lines of the varying cases will be compared. In the completed |
| section of testing where the potato was cooked first, the 0 hour trial |
| produced the largest slope of 15.592, but smallest y-intercept of 112.9 |
| mg of glucose; the 12 hour trial produced a medium slope of 2.0954 |
| and medium y-intercept value of 192.08 mg of glucose; and the 24 hour |
| trial produced the smallest slope of 1.84 and the largest y-intercept |
| value of 253.2 mg of glucose. These data have many real-world |
| applications including the implications of an alternative method of |
| preparing starches for people diagnosed with diabetes. If refrigerating |
| starches is proven to turn them into resistant starches and cause them |
| to contribute to blood sugar less, then it will be a valuable piece of |
| Bibliography | Gunnars, Kris. "Resistant Starch 101 – Everything You Need to Know." |
| AuthorityNutrition.com, Authority Nutrition, 2012-2017, |
| authoritynutrition.com/resistant-starch-101/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017. |
| Mishra, Ankita. "Development of EMS-induced Mutation Population for |
| Amylose..." BMC Plant Biology, vol. 16, no. 1, 2016. Gale Science in |
| Context, |
| link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A465840153/SCIC?u=lom_detroitcdvl&xid |
| =b7df4e20. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017. |