Eighteen (18) male albino rats were used to determine the glycemic indices of flour and starch component of two varieties, each, of maize and millet grains. The flour was obtained by milling the grains while the starch components were extracted from the grains using the method of Signh and Sadh (2009). Steeping, grinding, sieving and several rounds of centrifugation were carried out to obtain the starch component. The rats were administered with alloxan monohydrate (120mg/Kg body weight) to induce diabetes in them. After a twelve hour fast, fasting blood samples were collected by tail tipping and blood glucose analysed. The animals were then fed within fifteen minutes with test feed and further blood samples collected at 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes from the commencement of feeding and analysed for blood glucose level using portable active accu-check glucometer. Two rats were fed with anhydrous glucose used as refernece feed. The area under the curve (AUC) for all the test and reference feeds were calculated by plotting the graph of blood glucose level in mg/dL against time in minutes. The glycemic indices were calculated by dividing the AUC of the test feed by that of the reference feed and multiplying by 100. The flour components of both the maize and the millet varieties gave lower glycemic index (maize sammez-11 flour gave G.I. of 66.88±1.44 while maize sammez-14 flour gave G.I. of 64.56±3.70. The flour components of finger millet flour gave G.I of 69.61±3.59 and that of pearl millet gave G.I. of 56.54±2.39) than their starch components (maize sammez-11 starch gave G.I. of 82.29±8.68, maize sammez-14 gave G.I of 79.25±2.03, finger millet starch gave G.I of 74.17±4.98 while pearl millet starch gave G.I. of 62.58±3.25). Pearl millet flour gave the lowest glycemic index (56.54±2.39) while sammez-11 maize starch gave the highest glyceimic index (82.29±8.68). In conclusion, cereal starches such as maize starch and millet starch are better consumed in their natural whole form.
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