Glycaemic control is important in metabolic diseases such as diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. L-arabinose inhibits the hydrolysis of sucrose into glucose and fructose. So far little is known about its functionality in different food matrices. We assessed the effect of replacing sucrose with L-arabinose in drinks and in cereal foods on blood glucose and insulin in healthy adults. Glucose and insulin responses were reduced when sucrose was replaced by L-arabinose in drinks. Replacement of sucrose in cereal foods did not affect glucose responses, however it reduced the insulin peak. L-arabinose without sucrose in a drink did not affect glucose responses. Therefore, replacing sucrose with L-arabinose is potentially a good strategy to lower glycaemic and insulin responses. However, the effects depend on the food matrix and the nutritional composition of the food. More research is warranted on the functionality of L-arabinose in different food matrices and in other populations.

血糖控制在诸如糖尿病和葡萄糖耐量受损的代谢疾病中很重要。L-阿拉伯糖抑制蔗糖水解成葡萄糖和果糖。迄今为止，人们对其在不同食品基质中的功能知之甚少。我们评估了在健康成年人中，在饮料和谷物食品中用L-阿拉伯糖替代蔗糖对血糖和胰岛素的影响。当用饮料中的L-阿拉伯糖代替蔗糖时，葡萄糖和胰岛素反应降低。谷物食品中的蔗糖替代品不会影响葡萄糖反应，但是会降低胰岛素峰值。饮料中不含蔗糖的L-阿拉伯糖不影响葡萄糖反应。因此，用L-阿拉伯糖代替蔗糖可能是降低血糖和胰岛素反应的好策略。然而，影响取决于食物的基质和食物的营养成分。在不同的食物基质和其他人群中，关于L-阿拉伯糖功能的研究有待进一步研究。