Comparative study of the starch digestibility of Araucaria angustifolia and Araucaria araucana seed flour

Araucaria angustifolia and Araucaria araucana are South American conifers; the former grows in southern and south-eastern Brazil and north-eastern Argentina and the latter grows in mountainous region of southern Argentina and Chile. The seeds of the conifers have been consumed by the natives for a long time. Araucaria seed flour is used to prepare traditional dishes such as alfajores. In this work, the characteristics, proximate composition and in vitro starch digestibility of both seeds were studied. The main component of the seed is starch, with starch content higher in A. angustifolia. The disruption and collapse of the starch granules after boiling the seeds was much more evident in A. angustifolia, probably due to their lower fibre content. This can explain the higher digestibility of A. angustifolia starch with respect to A. araucana.