Abstract
The technical solution of a food for special medical purposes for patients suffering from swallowing difficulties - dysphagia, relates to a starch-based thickener intended for thickening beverages and semi-liquid foods suitable for administration to patients suffering from dysphagia or difficulty swallowing. As part of the technical solution in question, a thickener is developed which is digestible.
At the same time, it is a thickener without the risk of undesirable pharmaceutical interactions and with sufficient physicochemical stability after ingestion, whether in the form of a beverage or a semi-liquid food. In addition, the concentrated food or beverage has properties that make it easier for most indicated patients to swallow, without the risk of aspiration into the airways.
The essence of the solution is a type of starch that has advantageous initial properties and sufficiently changes the rheological properties due to the modification of the structure. In this way, optimal properties are achieved for the purpose of use, i.e. predictable behavior after mixing with water or after preparing a liquid or semi-liquid food, of which water is always a part.
Physicochemical properties such as apparent viscosity, adhesion to the mucous membranes in the mouth, pharynx and esophagus, as well as the strength of the separated bite are constant from the time of preparation to the consumption of the beverage or food.