Potato starch modified by Rhinacanthus nasutus extract
What it found
In lab tests, an extract from the tropical tea plant Rhinacanthus nasutus changed how potato starch behaves and slowed its digestion.
The extract also passed a safety check in lab-grown cells.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Slower starch digestion
With 8 g kg-1 of the extract, starch digestion in the lab was significantly inhibited. Fast digestible starch dropped to 16.53% and slow digestible starch rose to 34.76%.
Cell safety check
Tests on IEC-6 cells confirmed the safety of the extract.
How it may work
Molecular docking showed the extract could bind to amino acid residues of digestive enzymes through hydrogen bonds, alkyl and pi-alkyl interactions, which could slow starch digestion.
Other findings
What is in the extract
The extract contained naphthoquinones, fatty acids, terpenoids and other compounds, identified by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.
Starch properties change
Adding the extract lowered the solubility and swelling of potato starch. The starch granules changed shape and crosslinked, the crystallinity changed, the texture became harder and the viscosity stronger.
What the authors conclude
“R. nasutus and its extract might be potential candidates for new food additives.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the extract modified the physical and chemical properties of potato starch, lowering solubility and swelling, hardening the structure and raising viscosity, which they describe as helpful for the edible properties of starch.
- They report that adding the extract significantly inhibited starch digestion in the lab.
- They suggest Rhinacanthus nasutus and its extract might be potential candidates for new food additives.
How it was done
The authors note that slow digestion of potato starch matters for keeping glucose spikes steady, and that the effects of Rhinacanthus nasutus on potato starch were not known.
They mixed Rhinacanthus nasutus extract with potato starch and measured its solubility, swelling, structure, texture and viscosity. They also tested starch digestion in the lab with 8 g kg-1 of the extract, ran a safety test on IEC-6 cells, and used molecular docking to see how compounds in the extract might interact with digestive enzymes.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The digestion and safety tests were done in the lab and in cells, not in people, so they cannot show what happens when someone eats this starch.
- The study does not show whether these effects would last or matter in a real diet.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China; Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; National Key Research and Development Program of China (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- Tianjin University, China; Tianjin Agricultural University, China; Tianjin University of Science & Technology, China
The paper
- Title
- Characterization on the physicochemical and digestion properties of potato starch modified by the extract from Rhinacanthus nasutus (L.) KURZ
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Liu J, Li S, Lu J, et al (2025). Characterization on the physicochemical and digestion properties of potato starch modified by the extract from Rhinacanthus nasutus (L.) KURZ. Journal of the science of food and agriculture. doi:10.1002/jsfa.14407PubMed 40503586DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error