ABSTRACT
Carbohydrate is almost universally the major dietary source of metabolic energy. Nearly all of it is obtained from plants, and nearly all of it requires digesting before it is available for human metabolism. However, plants have developed a range of structures, nearly all based on the ability of polysaccharides to form multimolecular complexes, which obstruct digestion when the plant is consumed as food. ese structures make an important contribution to the properties of dietary ber that transcends the eects of isolated
14.1 Introduction 347 14.2 Polysaccharide-Based Structures and Nutritional Properties
in the Foregut 350 14.2.1 Eects of Structure on Enzyme Access to Substrates 350
14.3 Polysaccharide-Based Structures and Hindgut Function 358 14.3.1 Fecal Bulking Eects 358 14.3.2 Inuence of Plant Tissue Structure on Fecal Parameters 358
14.4 Retaining Polysaccharide-Based Food Structures for Health: Minimal Processing 360
14.5 Conclusion 362 14.6 Summary 363 References 363
nondigestible polysaccharides. e elimination of the structural impediments to digestion that dietary ber imposes so as to maximize the accessibility of starch to the digestive enzymes in the gut has been an important aim of food processing for thousands of years. But, it has also generated its own challenges for human health.
