Abstract:
Introduction: The nutritive value of traditional breakfast foods or foods prepared
with indigenous raw materials available in Sri Lanka are a neglected area of
research. These foods have been consumed by Sri Lankans for centuries but have
been slowly replaced with wheat based food products.
Objective: To study a few such foods/foods made with indigenous raw materials
for their nutritional properties.
Methodology: The foods studied included four traditional tubers and foods made
with Cycas circinalis (madu) seeds (roti and pittu) and Vateria copallifera (hal)
fruit (pittu) and Caryota urens (kithul) pith (roti, thalapa and muffin). The
proximate compositions (ash, moisture, digestible carbohydrate, crude protein,
soluble and insoluble dietary fibre and total fat contents) of these foods made
according to standard recipes were determined by the AOAC methods.
Antioxidant capacity was determined as Trolox Equivalents (TEAC) and
phenolic/polyphenol content as Gallic Acid Equivalence (GAE/100g fresh
weight). The glycaemic indices were determined with healthy volunteers
according to WHO criteria.
Results: Kithul thalapa and buthsarana were categorized as high GI foods with
(± SEM) 128 ± 11 and 110 ± 8 respectively. Muffin prepared from kithul flour and
hulankeeriya had medium GI values of 92 ± 9 and 82 ± 8 respectively. The madu
roti and pittu, kithul roti, hal pittu and two raja ala varieties (raja ala violet and
white) had low GI (66 ± 6, 72 ± 4, 57 ± 4, 67±7, and 64 ± 9 and 69 ± 4 respectively)
Phenolic/polyphenolic contents of the raw flour ranged from 79-1162 (GAE/100
g FW) with the antioxidant capacity ranging from 3-225 TEAC.
Discussion: Traditional breakfast foods could be recommended for both healthy
and people with impaired glucose tolerance.
