Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
the a-amylase can also inhibit the microbial
a
-amylase in the gut
microbes to prevent the breakdown of the starch in the gut into ferment-
able sugar.
4.
When interpreting the results of
a
-glucosidase and
a
-amylase inhibition
activity, it is important to rule out any possible artifact caused by poten-
tial interference of the inhibitors on the assay used. Judicious choice of
assays and proper design of controlled experiments should be able to
eliminate interferences.
5.
Chemical assays use pure substrates, either natural (i.e., starch, sucrose, or
maltose) or unnatural ones (i.e., pNPG and other synthetic molecular
probes). An inhibitor may be very potent under such conditions but
may completely lose its activity in a real food system. Therefore,
in vitro
digestion system that mimics human GI tract should be used as
much as possible to gain insight on the performance of the inhibitors
when it is incorporated in a food matrix that is treated with real digestive
enzymes and media.
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