Value added Indian flat breads with Ashwagandha and its glycemic response among normal healthy subjects

The glycemic index (GI) provides an indication of carbohydrate quality whereas glycemic load (GL) provides carbohydrates quantity in a food and the insulin demand. Diet with low glycemic index and glycemic load have been shown to improve glucose tolerance on normal healthy subjects so there is a need for a more diversified range of foods with a low glycemic response. The objective of present work was to formulate ashwagandha based food products by utilizing their root powder as an ingredient and their glycemic responses on normal healthy subjects. The products (Chappati, Naan and Thepla) were developed by incorporation of 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% aswagandha root. The result showed that the products with 2% root powder were most acceptable by semi trained panels. Further, study was conducted on randomly selected 30 healthy subjects were fed most acceptable test recipe i.e. thepla and their glycemic response was anticipated. GI and GL values were 37.30 and 11.36 found to be lower 2% root incorporated in thepla while comparing with standard thepla. The data demonstrated that the test thepla belongs to low glycemic index and medium glycemic load. Thus, the inclusion of ashwagandha powder as a constituent can be used to achieve a wider range of low glycemic functional foods possessing sensory attributes that could be valuable for managing the diabetes mellitus.