Cereal Dietary Fiber and Human Health
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 8485
Special Issue Editor
Interests: milling and air-classification of cereal grains; evaluation of physicochemical properties of prime and small granule cereal and pulse starches; oats and barley beta-glucan extraction, characterization and food applications; starch digestibility profiling (RS, SDS and RDS) and low glycemic food formulation strategies; pilot scale technical and economic feasibility studies on oat/barley starch, beta-glucan and protein refining.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Whole grain cereals such as corn, wheat, rice, barley, oats, sorghum, rye, and millets are excellent sources of dietary fibre. Cereal dietary fiber is composed of a variety of dietary fiber components that are both water soluble and insoluble in nature. Examples of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) are beta-glucan, low-molecular-weight arabinoxylan, inulin, and pectin, and examples of insoluble dietary fibre (IDF) are cellulose, high molecular weight arabinoxylan, and resistant starch. Beyond its contribution towards proper bowel function, cereal dietary fiber has been the focus of many clinical research studies related to body weight management, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and colon cancer. Research studies have also focused on the bioactive properties of dietary fiber components such as cholesterol/bile acid binding, antioxidant, antihypertensive, and prebiotic potential. Furthermore, the effect of food and ingredient processing technologies, as well as the use of food additives such as salt, sugar, organic acids, a variety of enzymes, and microbes on the bioactivity and health functionality of cereal dietary fiber, has been a trend in cutting-edge research. With respect to food regulations, the content of dietary fibre is one of the core nutrients that must be declared in the nutrition facts label of packaged foods. Furthermore, the definition of dietary fiber has been evolving since the 1950s and has mainly included intrinsic, plant-based, non-digestible carbohydrates and associated components such as lignin and phyticacid. Research advancements in the science of dietary fiber, food technology, and nutrition have identified the shortcomings in this definition and updated it from time to time, especially within the context of ever-evolving, large-scale food processing and ingredient technologies. The latest definition, especially that from the Health Canada and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA, includes non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates [with degree of polymerization (DP) >3] and lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants, as well as isolated or synthetic non-digestible carbohydrates (with DP >3) determined by the respective agencies to have physiological effects that are beneficial to human health. The aim and scope of this Special Issue is to capture the major current trends and some of the ongoing cutting-edge research related to the importance of cereal dietary fibre to human health and quality of life.
Prof. Thava Vasanthan
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- cereals
- whole grain
- total dietary fibre (TDF)
- soluble dietary fiber (SDF)
- insoluble dietary fibre (IDF)
- beta-glucan (BG)
- arabinoxylans (AX)
- resistant starch (RS)
- lignin
- phenolic compounds
- phyticacid
- bowel function
- body-weight management
- cardiovascular health
- type 2 diabetes
- colon cancer
- bioactive properties
- cholesterol/bile acid binding
- antioxidant
- prebiotic
- antihypertensive
- food and ingredient processing technologies
- food additives
- enzymes and microbes in food processing
- food regulations
- Health Canada
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- current trends and cutting-edge research
