ABSTRACT
The importance of dietary fiber to human nutrition and food processing is well-known, but less is understood of the effects of common food processing techniques on the properties of fiber molecules. Removal of native lipids, proteins and starches from a fiber-rich food changes hydration characteristics. Milling modifies surface properties, with important nutritional implications. Processes involving moist heat may leach soluble fiber; canning produces the most severe changes. Extrusion cooking fragments carbohydrates into smaller molecules that may recombine in unique ways. New food processing methods may have yet other effects on dietary fiber molecules.
