In this study, the influences of pumpkin flour additions to breadmaking on evolutions of microstructure, rheology and starch hydrolysis during simulated gastrointestinal digestion were investigated. Compared to white bread (PB0), the bread supplemented with 20% pumpkin flour (PB20) showed more continuous and fibrous gel network structure with most starch granules encapsulated in the network throughout the in vitro digestion. Due to the dilution of digestive fluids and enzymatic hydrolysis, the digesta moduli and viscosity remarkably decreased as time progressed, but PB20 presented significantly higher rheology compared to PB0 in each digestion phase. At the end of intestinal phase, the in vitro starch digestibility was 69.9% for PB0, significantly higher than that for PB20 (55.4%). This is presumably attributed to the abundant dietary fibre in pumpkin flour, contributing to the increased digesta viscosity and the formation of more compact and stable gel networks that would hinder the contact of starch granules with α‐amylase. In addition, the pumpkin‐added breads gave satisfactory results in terms of sensory acceptability. This study has suggested promising potential of incorporating pumpkin flour in the production of functional bakery products with reduced starch digestibility while maintaining good sensory characteristics.
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