Effect of cold holding on the glycemic responses of steamed pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) in healthy adults

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cold storage on the glycemic responses of steamed pumpkin in healthy adults. Two steamed pumpkin meals containing 50 g of available carbohydrates were fed to 13 subjects (6 men and 7 women), with normal insulin sensitivity. The first test meal for hot holding steamed pumpkin was served immediately to the subjects after steaming, while the other test meal was refrigerated for three (3) days after steaming prior to consumption by the subjects. All the subjects had the peak blood glucose levels at time 45 minutes for the reference food (glucose), and at time 30 minutes for both test meals. Overall, the male subject had higher blood glucose responses than female subject. However, there was no significant difference in the blood glucose response between genders on hot test meal. But, the difference was significant between gender on the cold test meal at postprandial time intervals of 30 and 45 minutes. The mean IAUC of cold holding steamed pumpkin (125.33 ± 17.16 mmol.min/L) was significantly lower than that of hot holding steamed pumpkin (254.61 ± 25.29 mmol.min/L). It was found that the glycemic index of cold holding and hot holding steamed pumpkin was (42.47 ± 6.14) and (57.89 ± 8.55), respectively. However, there was no significant difference in the glycemic index values of both pumpkin samples at a 95% confidence level. The study found that cold holding of steamed pumpkin had resulted in significantly lower incremental area under the curve (IAUC) as compared to hot holding steamed pumpkin (p<0.05). However, their glycemic index were not significamtly different.