In vivo Digestion of Banana Starch Granules

Approximately 50% of either potato or banana granules ingested by rats fed diets containing the starch granules as the main carbohydrate disappeared in the rat bodies with making corrections for starches in feces and in posthumous contents of the gastro‐intestinal tracts. By scanning electron microscopy starch granules isolated from the digestive tracts of rats showed typical patterns of the enzymatic attack, probably those of α‐amylase attack, on their surface layers and inner portions. SEM observations of the cross‐section of a grain of feces of rats fed with diets containing starch granules of banana and potato revealed that damage of starch granules can be observed without the tedious procedure of separating starch granules from feces.