SORGHUM SUGAR-TAMER FOOD PRODUCT

Abstract

The present invention relates to food products comprising Onyx sorghum capable of moderating blood glucose and insulin levels after consumption, thereby treating or preventing diabetes, and methods for the same.

Claims

1. A method for treating diabetes comprising: administering to a subject in need thereof a first food product in the form of baked goods including onyx sorghum that is of about 30% to 40% by weight of ingredient, wherein the onyx sorghum is used to replace all or part of flour required to produce the first food product, and wherein blood glucose levels of the subject are lower after consuming the first food product as opposed to consuming a second food product not containing onyx sorghum.

2-10. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention and together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the relevant art to make and use the invention.

[0018] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, claims, and accompanying drawings.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the incremental plasma glucose response of subjects having consumed food products containing whole wheat versus Onyx sorghum.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the incremental plasma insulin response of subjects having consumed food products containing whole wheat versus Onyx sorghum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail herein specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention. It is not intended to limit the invention to the specific illustrated embodiment.

[0022] The features of the invention disclosed herein in the description, drawings, and claims can be significant, both individually and in any desired combinations, for the operation of the invention in its various embodiments. Features from one embodiment can be used in other embodiments of the invention.

[0023] In accordance with the subject disclosure, it has been found that Onyx sorghum, when used in food products, may moderate blood glucose levels after consumption, thereby provides an effective mean to prevent or treat diabetes, as set forth in the examples below.

[0024] For the purpose of his disclosure, the term “Onyx sorghum” refers to a sorghum blend comprising black sorghum and condensed tannins. More specifically, Onyx sorghum has a tannin content of over 20%. Preferably, the tannin content ranges between 20% to 30%, and more precisely, 20% to 25%.

Example 1

[0025] Example 1 demonstrates the surprisingly effectiveness of Onyx sorghum in moderating glucose and insulin levels when used in food products. Without wishing to be bound by any theory, it is supposed that this effectiveness is due to Onyx sorghum containing an unexpectedly high amount of resistant starch than whole wheat, and far higher than white refined flour. Thus it is supposed that the moderation of glucose and insulin levels is achieved through resistant starch, low glycol-load, and avoidance of sugar spikes.

[0026] In general, dietary starches can be classified into three major fractions according to in vitro digestibility as rapidly digestible (RDS), slowly digestible (SDS), and resistant starch (RS). RDS is hydrolyzed into glucose within 20 minutes; SDS is hydrolyzed into glucose between 20 and 120 minutes; and RS remains undigested after 120 minutes after consumption. Studies have shown that consuming food rich with RS may provide significant health benefits. Patindol et al., “Nutritionally Important Starch Fractions Of Rice Cultivars Grown In Southern United States”, Journal of Food Science Food, Volume 75(5) (June 2010), H137-44, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0027] Using Onyx sorghum—a high tannin sorghum developed by Texas A&M University—as an example, it has been shown that Onyx sorghum muffins contain significantly higher RS content than whole wheat muffins with similar compositions.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 In vitro total starch and starch fraction measurement of wheat and ONYX muffins Starch composition Whole Wheat muffins ONYX Sorghum muffins TS % 54.5 ± 1.7 54.3 ± 1.4 RDS % 76.8 ± 6.5 69.2 ± 7.5 SDS % 17.0 ± 3.7 18.9 ± 4.4 RS %  2.8 ± 0.0  4.2 ± 0.1* RDS, SDS, and RS percentages are based on TS. Data are expressed as Mean ± SD (standard deviation). N = 2-4. *indicates P < 0.05 significance.

[0028] By way of example, Onyx sorghum may be incorporated into bake goods such as a muffin. For the compositions shown in Table 1, two muffins which contained a total serving of 50 g of total starch were used. All taw materials were weighted separately for each treatment as shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Muffin ingredients Ingredient Whole Wheat muffins (g) ONYX Sorghum muffins (g) Flour 93.9 85.8 Water 65.9 80 Egg 38.8 38.8 Butter 20.0 20.0 Vegetable oil 7.5 7.5 Sucralose 3.0 3.0 Salt 1.3 1.3 Baking powder 1.8 1.8

[0029] By administering muffins containing Onyx sorghum according to an exemplary embodiment, remarkable results were obtained in that incremental glucose responses and incremental insulin concentrations were significantly lower when muffins containing Onyx sorghum were consumed versus when whole wheat muffins were consumed.

[0030] In particular, twelve participants were selected after a screening session. Five participants identified themselves as Asian or Asian American, three as Caucasian, two as African or African American, and two as Latino/Hispanic. The breakdowns of these participants are shown in Table 3 below.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Participant information Participants (n = 12) Age 26.7 ± 4.9 BMI (Body Mass Index, kg/m.sup.2) 26.8 ± 3.7 Fasting blood glucose levels (mg/dL) 90.3 ± 5.1 Data are expressed as Mean ± SD (standard deviation).

[0031] The differences between consuming whole grain muffins versus muffins containing Onyx sorghum are statistically significant (p<0.05) as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Further, as shown in Table 3 below, the incremental glucose responses with sorghum muffin treatment were significantly lower at 90, 120, and 180 minutes intervals (P<0.05). Likewise, incremental insulin concentrations for sorghum muffin treatment were significantly lower at 75, 90, and 120 minutes (P<0.05).

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 3 Mean incremental area under the curves (iAUC) for plasma glucose and insulin responses Participants Whole Wheat ONYX Sorghum Glucose iAUC 12 3911 ± 589  2626 ± 342* (mg .Math. (~3 h)/dL) Insulin iAUC 12 5510 ± 1088 3617 ± 683* (μU .Math. (~3 h)/L) Data are expressed as Mean ± SD (standard deviation). *indicates P < 0.05 significance.

[0032] As shown in Table 3 above, with the muffin treatment according to the exemplary embodiment, mean iAUC (incremental area under the curve) responses of glucose were significantly reduced about 33% (P<0.05). Mean iAUC responses of insulin were also significantly reduced about 34%(P<0.05).

[0033] Although the exemplary embodiment describes utilizing Onyx sorghum in the form of a muffin to moderate glucose or insulin levels, those skilled in the art would readily appreciate that Onyx sorghum may be applied to many other food products to achieve similar effects. Other food products may include, but are not limited to, bake goods, pancake or waffle mix, sauces, pastas, cereals, beverages, soups, gravies, eggs, or salads. By way of example, numerous food recipes utilizing high tannin sorghum were described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,263,167 to Harris. Such other food products utilizing Onyx sorghum b moderate glucose or insulin levels are intended to be part of this disclosure and within the spirit and scope of this invention.

[0034] Further, although the exemplary embodiment describes muffins having an Onyx sorghum blend content of about 30% to 40%, and more precisely, 36%. A skilled artisan would readily appreciate that flour made out of Onyx sorghum can be used to replace conventional flour in other applications to achieve this remarkable result. As such, this embodiment is merely an example, and does not intend to limit the scope of this invention to only food products containing the same percentage of sorghum blend content.

[0035] Moreover, a skilled artisan can also appreciate that while it is preferred to completely replace conventional flour with Onyx sorghum in a food product recipe—i.e., replacing 100% of flour in a recipe with Onyx sorghum—to achieve maximum effect in moderating glucose or insulin levels, replacing only part of the flour can also achieve some amount of glucose and insulin moderation, so long as the Onyx sorghum content is not merely de minimis. For example, cereals and other products, such as bread, can also benefit from the inclusion of Onyx sorghum blend.

[0036] For the purpose of this disclosure, it is contemplated that food products containing more than 3.5% Onyx blend sorghum would be effective in moderating glucose or insulin level in a subject. While it is preferred to have Onyx sorghum blend completely replacing flour within a food product, it is intended to be part of this disclosure and within the spirit and scope of this invention that Onyx sorghum blend can be used to replace all or part of the flour called for in a recipe.

Example 2

[0037] Example 2 demonstrates the effectiveness of a Onyx sorghum blend diet in Nile rats to control diabetes. Specifically, it was found that rats fed with Onyx sorghum blend experienced a significant reduction in blood glucose after eight weeks as shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 4 Diabetes in 3 wk old male Nile rats fed with hiCHO diet without flour (control diet) or with wheat flour or sorghum flour for 8 wks (NR study 127 A, unsplit) #73 MB #162 #163 HiCHO Wheat ONYX Sorghum Diet Control flour flour CHO:Fat:Prot % E 70:10:20 70:10:20 70:10:20 (Fat/Prot % E ratio) (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) Glycemic Load/ 285    238    197    2000 kcal kcal/g 4.1 4.0 3.7 OGTT 30 min  2/10 (83%) 5/7 (58%) 8/5 (38%) <150 mg/dl> 8 wk T2DM (% incidence)* RBG <75 mg/dl> 5/7 (58%) 5/7 (58%) 9/4 (31%) 8 wk T2DM (% incidence)** FBG <60 mg/dl> 5/7 (58%) 7/5 (42%) 11/2 (15%)  terminal T2DM (% incidence)*** Body weight (g) Initial 43 ± 5  42 ± 4  42 ± 5  After 4 wks .sup. 82 ± 8.sup.a,b 75 ± 6.sup.a  76 ± 8.sup.b  After 8 wks 96 ± 9  95 ± 9  90 ± 11 Food Intake g/d  .sup. 9.5 ± 1.1.sup.a,b .sup. 8.0 ± 0.5.sup.a,c .sup. 10.5 ± 1.0.sup.b,c kcal/d 39 ± 5.sup.a  .sup. 31 ± 2.sup.a,b 38 ± 4.sup.b  Food Efficiency (g 25 ± 4.sup.a  .sup. 31 ± 7.sup.a,b 22 ± 5.sup.b  BW gain/1000 kcal) Random blood glucose (mg/dL) After 4 wks 148 ± 119 119 ±130  69 ± 14 After 8 wks  242 ± 199.sup.a 139 ± 151  83 ± 61.sup.a Fasting blood glucose (mg/dL) Terminal after 65 ± 28 59 ± 23 44 ± 13 8 wks OGTT, after 4 wks (mg/dL) 0 min 48 ± 10 45 ± 11 56 ± 20 30 min 225 ± 87.sup.a  170 ± 103 133 ± 52.sup.a  OGTT, after 8 wks (mg/dL) 0 min 53 ± 20 42 ± 18 44 ± 9  30 min  266 ± 110.sup.a 190 ± 107 150 ± 67.sup.a  Organ weight % BW Liver  .sup. 3.52 ± 0.44.sup.a,b  2.94 ± 0.49.sup.a .sup. 2.66 ± 0.26.sup.b Kidney  0.74 ± 0.14.sup.a 0.67 ± 0.13  0.62 ± 0.06.sup.a Cecum 1.22 ± 0.35 1.35 ± 0.55 1.25 ± 0.16 Adipose EPI 2.88 ± 0.83 2.95 ± 0.82 2.82 ± 0.72 PERI 1.33 ± 1.10 1.56 ± 0.90 1.42 ± 0.55 Brown 1.82 ± 0.44 1.67 ± 0.52 1.53 ± 0.46 Total fat 5.94 ± 1.92 6.19 ± 1.86 5.78 ± 1.26 (EPI + PERI + Brown) Carcass 70 ± 2  69 ± 2.sup.a  72 ± 4.sup.a  Body length (cm) 13.9 ± 0.4  13.7 ± 0.5  13.6 ± 0.5  Plasma lipids, terminal (mg/dL) TC 157 ± 127 105 ± 95  105 ± 44  TG 67 ± 22 70 ± 23 53 ± 14 Data are expressed as Mean ± SD (standard deviation) (n = 12-13). .sup.a,b,cMeans in a row sharing common superscript differ (P < 0.05) using one-way ANOVA and Fisher's PLSD *% Incidence <150 mg/dl> based on OGTT 30′ after 8 wk on diet. **% Incidence <75 mg/dl> based on RBG after 8 wk on diet (best predictor of T2DM found at necropsy). ***% Incidence <60 mg/dl> based on FBG after 8 wk on diet.

[0038] As shown in the above example, rats fed with a bend of rat chow and Onyx sorghum showed surprising reductions in blood glucose levels in comparison to rats on the control diet or on the whole wheat diet. As such, a diet of Onyx sorghum blend, whole grain oats, and wheat may be utilized as a method for treating or preventing diabetes.

[0039] Although the above description is generally directed to methods of treating or preventing diabetes and to moderate glucose and insulant levels, Onyx sorghum blend may also be suitable for other purposes due to its unexpectedly high amount of RS. For example, studies have shown that RS having beneficial impacts in the prevention of cancer, postprandial glycaemia and insulinemia, hyperlipidemia, gall stone formation, and cardiovascular diseases. Such other methods of treatment utilizing high RS concentration of Onyx sorghum are intended to be part of this disclosure and within the spirit and scope of this invention.

[0040] Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.