GUWAHATI: The researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) have designed an accessible and cost-effective Glycemic Index (GI) sensor for providing real-time determination of the GI in various food sources, a vital component in managing diabetes, on October 19.
The team led by Dipankar Bandyopadhyay from the Department of Chemical Engineering developed this point-of-care-testing (POCT) prototype which can determine the Glycemic Index of common food sources in approximately 5 minutes. The rising trend of fast-food consumption among the global workforce emphasizes the need for a portable device capable of swiftly detecting and assessing the GI of various foods.
Explaining the detection process, Professor Bandyopadhyay said, “We developed a composite nanoenzyme by combining gold nanoparticles with alpha-amylase to break down long-chain starch molecules into simpler sugars. We found that this nanoenzyme, with a size of approximately 30 nanometers, possesses remarkable heterogeneous catalytic properties, facilitating the rapid degradation of starch into maltose at room temperature."
The amount of maltose generated is then electrochemically measured to categorise food sources into Rapidly Digestible Starch (RDS) and Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS), along with Resistant Starch (RS).
Commenting on the real-time monitoring of fast food, Bandyopadhyay further said, "When we tested the device on fast foods such as crackers, biscuits, chips, and bread, we found that crackers had the highest RDS content, followed by potato chips and brown bread. Notably, brown bread's SDS/RS content results in a gradual increase in glucose levels and a reduced response from insulin within the body."
The Glycemic Index (GI) is a metric used to classify carbohydrate-containing foods based on their impact on blood sugar levels when consumed. Foods with a high GI can cause rapid spikes in blood glucose levels, followed by quick declines. Furthermore, these high-GI foods trigger an increased demand for insulin, thereby elevating the risk of type-2 diabetes. Conversely, low-GI foods play a pivotal role in preventing diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even cancer.
The research findings have been published in the "Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering" journal by the American Chemical Society. The paper is co-authored by Prathu Raja Parmar, Jiwajyoti Mahanta, Saurabh Dubey, Tapas Kumar Mandal, and Dipankar Bandyopadhyay.
This research was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).