Observational learning is a successful method for improving writing skills in various genres. We explore effects of a five lesson intervention series based on peer observation. Fifty-five Swedish 5th-grade students aged 10-12 years followed this intervention program. The language and reading comprehension and working memory capacity were tested. The students watched short film-clips with peers wor

Context. Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) offers unparalleled precision on stars’ parallaxes and proper motions. This allows the prediction of microlensing events for which the lens stars (and any planets they possess) are nearby and may be well studied and characterised. Aims. We identify a number of potential microlensing events that will occur before the year 2035.5, 20 years from the Gaia DR2 refere

Pasta was prepared with of durum wheat flour mixed with chickpea flour at two different levels and its chemical composition, in vitro starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index were assessed. Protein, ash, lipid, and dietary fiber content increased while total starch decreased with the chickpea flour level in the composite pasta, all in accordance to the composition of the legume flour. Pot

BACKGROUND: Corn tortillas containing 20% (w/w) amaranth flour (AF) were kept in cold storage and analysed after various times for chemical composition and in vitro starch digestibility, including predicted glycemic index. Comparison was made with traditional nixtamalised corn flour (NCF) tortillas. RESULTS: Lipid and protein contents were higher in mixed NCF/AF tortilla than in NCF tortilla. Avai

In spite of the importance of legumes in Latin American diets, nutritional features of carbohydrates in these seeds are scarcely known. The purpose of this study was to assess the in vitro digestibility of starch in cooked powdered black beans, a common type of product in Mexico and Central America. The properties of a commercial product were compared to those of an experimental material obtained

Common beans of the Mayocoba variety were cooked (178 min) and evaluated regarding their chemical composition and starch digestibility in vitro. Mean physical characteristics of the Mayocoba grain were: thousand-kernel weight, 443.0 (±0.98)g; length, 12.45mm; width 7.84mm and thickness, 6.44mm. Total starch content in Mayocoba bean was 40.24% (dmb). The available starch was 22.87%, whereas resista

In Mexico, consumption of beans represents 15% of the normal diet of the population in rural zones. Four common bean varieties cultivated in Mexico were studied regarding their chemical composition, starch digestibility and indigestible fraction. The protein level in the samples Huasteco, Tacana and TLP 19 was not different (α = 0.05), but Veracruz cultivar had the highest protein and ash content,

Seeds from two commercial bean varieties were cooked and stored for different times and analysed for chemical composition and in vitro starch digestibility. Parallel portions of cooked seeds were dried at 55°C, milled and stored as flours. In general, protein and ash contents in both samples did not change with storage time, but statistical differences were shown between the two varieties (p < 0.0

Starch-modifying processes, such as pyrodextrinization, are potential ways to alter the nutritional features of this polysaccharide. A widely used method for pyrodextrinizing maize starch was also applied to lentil, sorghum, cocoyam, sagu, and cassava starches, and the in vitro digestibility of the products was evaluated. Pyrodextrins were produced by heating starch at 140°C for 3 h, with catalyti

The retrograded resistant starch contents (RS-III) and syneresis indices of cold stored starch gels were compared. Isolated starches from three cereals (maize, sorghum and rice), two legumes (jack bean and lentil) and arracacha roots (Arracacia xanthorrhiza) were hydrated and gelatinized by boiling. Drained gels were stored for 24 h at 4°C before the analyses. Neither apparent amylose contents nor

Starch was isolated from Peruvian carrot (PC) -or arracacha- (Arraccacia xanthorrhiza B.) roots. Its chemical, physical, physicochemical and granular structural properties were compared to those of commercial cassava starch. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a granular size for PC starch ranging between 4 and 26 μm in diameter, with spherical and truncated-egg shapes. PC and cassava starches w

Despite their important contribution to seed weight, carbohydrates in pulses have received limited attention. However, experimental evidence accumulated during the last two decades indicate that legumes are rich sources of slowly digestible starch promoting moderate postprandial glycernic and insulinemic responses. Although the reasons for this phenomenon are not completely understood, some intrin

Legume seeds were treated in various ways, e.g. cooking applied either before or after milling, in order to obtain flours with different microstructural properties. In vitro protein digestibility was assessed by a pepsin/pancreatin index. In all cases digestibility was enhanced by cooking, although final values varied depending on the flour preparation procedure. Cooked and milled seeds, which ret

A new method for measuring the rate of in-vitro starch digestion in products with a structure 'as eaten' is introduced. An equivalent amount of potentially available starch from each product was chewed by subjects, expectorated into a beaker and incubated with pepsin. The incubate was thereafter transferred to a dialysis tubing and incubated with pancreatic α-amylase for 3 h. Samples were removed

The digestibility of a mixture of starches was evaluated in balance experiments, with both normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats treated with antibiotics to prevent colonic fermentation of unabsorbed material. Pancreatic amylase production in the diabetic animals was only 10% of the normal level. In spite of this, only a minor decrease in the total starch digestibility index was recorded

Measured with an enzymic method, the starch content of a raw red kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) flour (RBF) was higher than that of a cooked and blended (CBB) and of a cooked, freeze-dried, and milled (CBF) preparation of the seeds. Wet homogenization as well as pepsin pretreatment of CBF increased the starch yield, indicating that starch in the cooked samples is not completely available to enzy