Structural and physical properties of dietary fibres, and consequences of processing on human physiology

摘要

Dietary fibre encompasses very diverse macromolecules exhibiting a large variety of physico-chemical properties. The might be naturally present in the food (in cell waslls of vegetables and fruits, for instance) or introduced in the food to improve their nutritional properties (e.g. bran in bread products) or their physicla chracteristics (e.g. gelling agents or improved resistance to storage). The properties that are nutritionally relevant are mainly the particle size and bulk volume, the surface area characteristics, the hydration and rheological properties, and the adsorption or entrapment of mineralks and organic molecules.