Rice is the principle staple and energy source for nearly half the world's population and therefore has significant nutrition and health implications. Rice is generally considered a high glycemic index (GI) food, however, this depends on varietal, compositional, processing, and accompaniment factors. Being a major contributor to the glycemic load in rice eating populations, there is increasing concern that the rising prevalence of insulin resistance is as a result of the consumption of large amounts of rice. Devising ways and means of reducing the glycemic impact of rice is therefore imperative. This review gathers studies examining the GI of rice and rice products and provides a critical overview of the current state of the art. A table collating published GI values for rice and rice products is also included.

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There is increasing emphasis on reformulating processed foods to make them healthier. This study for the first time comprehensively investigated the effects of fortifying bread (containing oil as an ingredient) with freeze-dried vegetables on its nutritional and physico-chemical attributes. Breads fortified with carrot, tomato, beetroot or broccoli were assessed for nutrition, antioxidant potential, storage life, shelf stability, textural changes and macronutrient oxidation. Furthermore, using an in vitro model the study for the first time examined the impact of vegetable addition on the oxidative stability of macronutrients during human gastro-intestinal digestion. As expected, adding vegetables improved the nutritional and antioxidant properties of bread. Beetroot and broccoli significantly improved bread storage life. None of the vegetables significantly affected bread textural changes during storage compared to the control. Lipid oxidation in fresh bread was significantly reduced by all four types of vegetables whilst protein oxidation was lowered by beetroot, carrot and broccoli. The vegetables demonstrated varying effects on macronutrient oxidation during gastro-intestinal digestion. Beetroot consistently showed positive effects suggesting its addition to bread could be particularly beneficial.