Evaluating the Glycaemic Index and Macronutrients Content of Three Traditional Cameroonian Meals

Abstract

Glycaemic index (GI), is an adequate tool not only for diet schedule, but also for the management of metabolic pathologies. It’s a parameter used to classified carbohydrates containing food according to their ability to raised blood glucose. We aimed to determine the GI and macronutrients content (Mc) of three Cameroonian meals commonly consumed. The studied sauces, commonly called “Bongo’ô Tchobi” (BT), “Kwem’’ with groundnut (KG) and “Flutted pumkin with pistachio” (FP) were mainly constituted of seeds of Aframomum aulacocarpos and citratum, Manihot esculenta leaves with Arachis hypogaea seeds and Telfairia occidentalis leaves with Citrullus colocynthis, seeds respectively. These sauces were all associated to Manihot esculenta tuber called  “Cassava”  (CA).  We  included  30  healthy  male’s  volunteers  who  were invited to participate in the study on four visits. After a 10-14 hours overnight fasting, the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test was carried out on day one of the visits. For the three meals, the experiment was repeated three times. Their capillary finger-prick blood samples were collected. The GI values were computed from the area under the glycemic-response curve of each food with glucose as reference. The macronutrients content (Mc) of each sauce and that of CA were determined separately. Results show that, the mean GI was respectively 96.85 ± 2.04; 91.22 ± 5.20; and 88.68 ± 3.47 for BT, KG, and FP. The total fiber content was high (p<0.05) for FP. A positive correlation was observed between the carbohydrates content of the tests meals and their GI (r=0.5; p<0.667) which means that, GI increases with the level of the available carbohydrates in the meal. The carbohydrates content value of CA was high (p<0.05) compared to all the sauces. As the sauces presented a poor carbohydrates content than Cassava, they can be proposed to people with carbohydrates metabolism disorders. These data are intended to serve as nutritional guidelines for the population and will also help nutritionists in diet schedule and formulation of foods proper for specific groups or for people in need to control their diet behavior. However, they should be associated with less carbohydrates accompaniment to prevent a high and/or chronic postprandial glycaemia.