AS A MAJOR COMPONENT IN CEREAL GRAIN FOODS, STARCH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE OF FOOD ENERGY. THERE IS GROWING INTEREST IN UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DIGESTION OF STARCH AND ITS EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH. HOWEVER, THE FUNDAMENTAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STARCH STRUCTURE AND DIGESTIBILITY IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. IN THIS PROJECT, WE LINK STARCH STRUCTURE TO IN VITRO ENZYME DIGESTIBILITY AND TO HUMAN GLUCOSE AND INSULIN RESPONSE. USING A PROCESS COMBINING ENZYMATIC MODIFICATION AND SPECIFIC CRYSTALLIZATION CONDITIONS, WE PLAN TO CONTROL THE ASSEMBLY OF STARCH MOLECULES AND PRODUCE PRODUCTS WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF ALLOMORPHS, MORPHOLOGY AND DIFFERENT DIGESTIBILITIES. STRUCTURE FORMATION DURING CRYSTALLIZATION WILL BE EXAMINED. THE FUNDAMENTAL INFORMATION GAINED WILL ENABLE US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY DIFFERENT STARCHES HAVE DIFFERENT DIGESTIBILITIES AND HOW TO CONTROL DIGESTION IN STARCHY FOODS. THE WORK PROPOSED IN THE PROPOSAL WILL ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE IN FUNDAMENTAL AS WELL AS APPLIED SCIENCE THAT IS IMPORTANT TO THE FOOD INDUSTRY. THE NEW KNOWLEDGE ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND DIGESTIBILITY OF STARCH WILL HELP US TO DESIGN FOODS WITH CONTROLLED DIGESTIBILITY AS WELL AS DESIRABLE TEXTURE, QUALITY AND SHELF LIFE, AND TO DEVELOP NEW STARCH BASED INGREDIENTS AND FOODS TO IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH.