Abstract:
Sweeteners are highly interconnected with non-communicable diseases such as obesity, type II
diabetic and heart diseases. Hence, there is a huge demand for natural sweeteners with low blood
glucose responses. Food Golucose responses can be determined in vivo using human subjects or
in vitro using enzymetic digestion systems. In comparison to in vivo, the in-vitro approach is less
expensive and more convenient. Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) jaggery is an alternative sweetener
specially among rural Asian communities. The focus of this study was to evaluate the in-vitro
digestibility and prediction of glycemic index (PGI) for four types of coconut jaggery namely:
jaggery produced from traditional sap collection method using hal bark (Vateria capalifera) (HAL
Jaggery), the jaggery prepared from pure sap collected from a novel sap collection device (NSCM
Jaggery), jaggery prepared from collected sap through a novel sap collection method with the
value added by 0.2 % cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) (CIN Jaggery) and the jaggery value
added with 0.05% of nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) (NUT Jaggery) and cane sugar. Glucose was used
as a standard. Digestion and digestibility tests for each type of sweeteners were carried out.
Results revealed that the rate of starch hydrolysis of glucose was significantly higher than the
other sweeteners and four types of jaggery have different hydrolysis rates from 30 to 180 minutes.
Hydrolysis Index (HI) of cane sugar was significantly higher than that of the others (55±0.023 %)
whereas the lowest HI was observed in NUT Jaggery (32±0.014%). According to the in vitro
glycemic prediction, all four types of coconut jaggery samples were categorized under a medium
GI sweetener while cane sugar categorized as a high GI (69.91±0.02) sweetener
