Glycemic index of growol cookies: snack development study for people with diabetes mellitusBackground: Low-glycemic foods with high fiber content have been shown to control blood glucose in diabetics. Growol, cassava fermented food, can be potentially developed as a functional food for diabetics. Growol has higher dietary fiber and lower total sugar, reducing sugar, and sucrose compared to cassava. Carbohydrates in growol combined with roasting processing techniques into cookies products may potentially change the glycemic index of the product.Objective: To examine the potency of growol cookies as a snack for diabetics in terms of the glycemic index of cookies.Methods: This observational laboratory study analyzed the glycemic index of growol cookies compared to glucose and control cookies. The study was conducted from April to October 2019. Ten subjects were involved in the glycemic index measurement. The glycemic index was analyzed through the area under the curve (AUC) ratio of glucose response of food by measuring blood glucose levels during fasting; 30; 60; 90; and 120 minutes after consuming test foods (growol cookies and control cookies).Results: AUC for glucose, control cookies, and growol cookies were 13,669.5; 11,886; and 11,941.5. The glucose glycemic index was 100, while the glycemic index of control cookies and growol cookies was 87. Both control cookies and growol cookies are high glycemic index food. There was an AUC difference between glucose and control cookies (p=0.001) and between glucose and growol cookies (p=0.001). The difference in AUC between control cookies and growol cookies (p=0.991) was not seen.Conclusions: Growol cookies have a lower glycemic index than glucose, but it still cannot be consumed as an alternative snack for diabetics.

Disease treatment and prevention can be done by providing appropriate dietary therapy, such as the use of functional food. Growol, cassava fermented food, is potentially developed as functional food. Cassava fermentation process into growol can change growol’s prebiotic potency. Aim of this study was to know growol’s prebiotic potency as a functional food based on carbohydrate changes. This was an observational laboratory study. Samples of this study were cassava and growol. Cassava used in this study was Manihot esculenta Crantz. The prebiotics potency was seen from carbohydrate, reducing sugar, sucrose and dietary fiber content. Carbohydrate was analyzed using carbohydrate by difference, while reducing sugar and sucrose were analyzed using Nelson-Somogyi and enzymatic hydrolysis. Gravimetric AOAC enzymatic was used to measure dietary fiber content. Dependent t-test was used to determine the prebiotic potency differences in growol and cassava. Fermentation of cassava into growol statistically reduced total sugar (p=0.001), reducing sugar (p=0.002), and sucrose (p=0.003). Furthermore, fermentation process of cassava into growol increased carbohydrate (p=0.038); insoluble dietary fiber (p=0.005); soluble dietary fiber (p=0.048); and dietary fiber (p=0.005). In conclusion, growol can be potentially developed as functional food in terms of carbohydrate changes, and it expected to be used in disease treatment and prevention. Further studies can examine changes of other nutritional compounds in growol due to fermentation. Moreover, study about health effects of growol administration is needed to be done.

Cassava and its various fermented products are one of the local foods in Indonesia. The fermentation process can have different effects on food, both in taste and nutritional value. Changes in sucrose and reduced sugar levels during fermentation play a role in determining food effects in various health disorders. This study aims to describe the impact of cassava fermentation on different fermented products (tape, growol, gathot) in terms of sucrose and reducing sugar levels. This observational laboratory research was done through two stages, i.e., qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis examined carbohydrates' presence (monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides) through the Molisch test, Benedict's test, and the Iodine test. Quantitative analysis was carried out to determine sucrose and reducing sugar levels using three replicates with the Nelson-Somogyi test. The research was conducted in January-July 2019 at Universitas Respati Yogyakarta and Chem-mix Pratama Laboratory. The statistical analysis used was One Way Anova at a 5% significance level and continued with the Tukey test. Qualitative tests showed cassava, tape, growol, and gathot contained monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Benedict's test results showed that growol did not have reducing sugars. The quantitative test showed Growol's reducing sugar content was the lowest (0.32%) compared to cassava (0.95%), tape (14.87%), and gathot (11.12%). The highest sucrose content was in cassava (4.77%) followed by growol (2.36%), tape (1.47%), and gathot (0.78%). There were significant differences in sucrose and reducing sugars levels between cassava, tape, growol, and gathot (p<0.001). In conclusion, growol is a fermented food that can be used as a functional food.

One of the causes of obesity in Indonesia is poor consumption patterns, especially those high in sugars such as reducing sugar and sucrose. Indonesia's food diversity has the potential to be developed as a solution to obesity problems. The fermentation process is able to change the nutritional value composition, especially in reducing sugar and sucrose as healthy food. This research functioned as a preliminary study in the development of healthy snacks, especially for obesity, in terms of the presence and amount of reducing sugars and sucrose in cassava tape, gathot, and growol. This was carried out in two stages. The first stage was a qualitative analysis to examine the presence of carbohydrates through the Molisch test, Benedict's test, and Iodine test. Reducing sugar and sucrose levels were determined through quantitative testing using Nelson Somogyi with three replications for each sample. The research was conducted for seven months (January-July 2019) located at Universitas Respati Yogyakarta and Chem-mix Pratama Laboratory. Differences in reducing sugar and sucrose levels were tested with One Way ANOVA and continued with the Tukey test. Cassava, cassava tape, gathot, and growol contain monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Growol's reducing sugar content was only 0.32% (the lowest compared to other products, p<0.001) in line with the qualitative test results on Benedict's test. Sucrose levels from lowest to highest were gathot (0.78%), cassava tape (1.47%), growol (2.36%), and cassava (4.77%) (p<0.001). Growol has the potential to be developed as a healthy snack for obesity in terms of reducing sugar and sucrose levels.