Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed a reliable, portable and affordable Glycemic Index (GI) sensor, suitable for point-of-care detection, which can determine the GI of different food sources in real-time. The research was led by Prof Dipankar Bandyopadhyay from the Department of Chemical Engineering.
As the trend of fast food increases among the world's working population, the need for a portable device that can immediately detect and guide the user about the GI of the food arises. The point-of-care-testing (POCT) prototype developed by the IIT Guwahati team can detect the glycemic Index of common food sources in approximately five minutes, according to a press release from the institute.
The new portable device will be helpful for people with diabetes or those managing their blood sugar through diet. GI is a measure that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods based on how they affect blood sugar levels when consumed. High-GI food can cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels, followed by a swift decline. Moreover, such foods stimulate an increased demand for insulin, contributing to the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. Importantly, low-GI food helps to prevent diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer.
“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 of approx 30 nanometer size has remarkable heterogeneous catalytic properties to rapidly degrade starch into maltose at room temperature. The amount of maltose produced is then electrochemically detected to classify the food sources into Rapidly Digestible Starch (RDS) and Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS) along with Resistant Starch (RS),” said Prof Bandyopadhyay, explaining the real-time monitoring process.
“When we tested the device on fast foods like crackers, biscuits, chips, and bread, we found that crackers have the most RDS, followed by potato chips, and then brown bread. Notably, the SDS/RS of brown bread releases maltose slowly, causing a gradual increase in glucose levels and a lower response from insulin in the body," he added.
The research findings have been published in the journal Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering by the American Chemical Society. The paper was co-authored by Prathu Raja Parmar, Jiwajyoti Mahanta, Saurabh Dubey, Tapas Kumar Mandal, besides Prof Bandyopadhyay. The researchers have also filed a patent real-time glycemic index sensor comprising enzymatic biosynthesized gold nanocomposite.
This research has been funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). To know more about the research, click on this video link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1strjXNNUmODGwILtWlk399RWuh-D8mic?usp=share_link.
