Impact of resistant starch from unripe banana flour on hunger, satiety, and glucose homeostasis in healthy volunteers

• Unripe banana flour (UBF) is a functional ingredient, rich in resistant starch.
• Non-daily UBF consumption improves satiety and reduces energy consumption.
• Non-daily UBF consumption provides lower ghrelin and higher peptide YY release.
• Lower insulin levels after non-daily UBF consumption for 6 weeks was verified.

Sources of dietary fibre can induce satiety and impact energy consumption. Herein, healthy volunteers consumed unripe banana flour (UBF), rich in resistant starch (5 g/8 g UBF), non-daily (3 times a week) for six weeks. The resistant starch (15 g/week) significantly reduced hunger and increased satiety parameters, as evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and area under the curve of ghrelin and peptide YY hormones. Changes in the VAS score and hormone levels were followed by a 14% reduction in energy intake at two subsequent meals in the UBF group. The fasting insulin after intake of UBF showed higher sensitivity by HOMA2-IR or QUICKI when compared to the baseline and control groups. These results suggest that UBF can be considered as a functional food ingredient that may contribute to reduced risks of certain non-communicable diseases owing to its high resistant starch levels.