BSK3503 FUNCTIONAL FOOD

ASSIGNMENT 1

No Name ID No
1 Nurul Fadilah Binti Suardi SA19028
2 Nur Amira Aqilah Binti Sulaiman SA19030

Content Marks

TOTAL

Comments
Based on the journal article

1. Suggest ONE (1) functional food and state its type of functional food.

Functional food: Barley

Type of functional food: Conventional food

2. Describe its beneficial effects on human health.

Whole-grain barley and extracted barley β-glucans have been widely studied for the
effects on glycaemic control. For examples are, postprandial blood glucose, fasting
blood glucose (FBG), insulin response and fasting insulin in healthy subjects and
impaired fasting glucose individuals. Thus, BIF and BSF that isolated from barley could
effectively reduce the elevated FBG level. Insoluble fibers, including cellulose, some
hemicelluloses and lignin, are a group of fibers that are less fermentable and generally
used as faecal bulking agent to improve bowel function. Barley gives beneficial effects
on human health as barley and oat beta-glucans been officially approved for health
claim on blood cholesterol reduction. Barley that contains arabinoxylans (AX) gives
advantageous impact in regulation of blood glucose, blood lipid, blood cholesterol and
immune system. Besides, the intake of barley fibre might have direct effects on the
hepatic lipids and thus recovered liver from injury. The BSF- and BIF treatments that
recovered the albumin level and reduced the MDA level in the serum of diabetic rats
suggest an improved synthesis function and oxidative status of liver.

3. Discuss how this functional food affect blood glucose level.

Both of the two isolated barley fibres share the same hypoglycaemic effect, they might
control blood glucose in a different manner. AX has been attracting the great deal of
interest from researchers due to its beneficial effects in regulation of blood glucose,
blood lipid, blood cholesterol and immune system. As example, T2D patients who
supplemented with AX-rich diet exhibited lower fasting and postprandial blood
glucose, and soluble AX-concentrated wheat bread has been shown to exerted similar
beneficial effects on glucose in Zucker diabetic fatty rats as bread made from rye, a
cereal high in soluble. Thus, T2D is a condition that not only be characterized by
elevated blood glucose level, but also leads to reduced life quality and complex of
complications. Besides that, diet rich in AX and resistant starch has been found to lower
fasting blood cholesterol in subjects with metabolic syndrome. The Barley Soluble
Fibre (BSF) isolated from barley also help improves insulin sensitivity while Barley
Insoluble Fibre (BIF) increased the level of minor Short Chain Fatty Acids in the
caecum. Butyric acid could improve insulin sensitivity via the regulation on the histone
deacetylases activity, promotion of energy expenditure and induction of mitochondria
function. Increased insulin sensitivity by butyric acid signalling in BSF-treated diabetic
rats might be another mechanism in addition to the reduced absorption of nutrients by
high viscosity. BIF, the same as BSF, was also effective in the reduction of serum total
triglycerides and LDL-C in the normal condition.