Dietary fiber is a ubiquitous component of plant foods including materials of diverse chemical and morphological structure.
Dietary fiber has been recognized to have considerable health benefits, and there is evidence that a low intake may be associated with a number of diseases.
Dietary fiber is a polymer matrix with variable physicochemical properties including susceptibility to bacterial fermentation, water-holding capacity, cation-exchange, and adsorptive functions. These properties determine the physiological actions. Fiber undergoes compositional changes as a consequence of bacterial enzymatic action in the colon. Dietary fiber is of clinical significance in certain disorders of colonic function and in glucose and lipid metabolism.
Determination of the physical and chemical properties of fiber and the evolution of these properties during passage along the gastrointestinal tract is of great importance for the prediction of the role and influence of various types of dietary fiber has on human health.