Sweet potato : alternative carbohydrate source for the health conscious consumers

摘要

Thailand has faced health problems relating the chronic non-communicable diseases  (NCDs) more than a decade. The most important factor is an imbalanced food consumption. The new diet as low carbohydrate is introduced, unfortunately this may cause other heath issues. Hence, the consumers tend to consume less processed carbohydrate or complex carbohydrates to balance the diet. Sweet potato gains more interests to the health market due to its naturally sweetness. Apart from this, the bioactive compounds have potential to reduce the risk of NCDs developing. Moreover, there is the report that the sweet potato flour is slower digested compared to the other flour as the glyceamic index (GI) value of 50. Sweet potato flour can be used as main ingredients for the products that suit the specific needs such as gluten free bakery. This may conclude that sweet potato is the alternative carbohydrate source for household consumption and also healthy food industries.