Chapter 7 - Sources of Fiber

Abstract

Dietary fiber (DF) is an important component of a healthy diet and is naturally present in plant foods. Depending on the source of fiber, the content, structure, chemical composition, physico-chemical properties, and physiological effects are different. Traditionally, most of the DF intake comes from the cell walls of vegetables, fruits, cereal products, and other seeds. However, in recent years food manufacturers have developed fiber-enriched foods using high-fiber ingredients, in order to increase the DF daily intake of the population due to the beneficial effects associated to fiber. Different plant foods have been reviewed in relation to their content and composition of DF. Moreover, we have included a review of the main changes of DF as a consequence of food processing. Furthermore, as the food market is constantly looking for new sources of healthy fibers to satisfy the growing consumer requests, agroindustrial by-products have been studied to evaluate their potential as high fiber ingredients.