New Developments in Dietary Fiber

It has been acknowledged that the physiological effects of dietary fiber are an exceedingly complex matter which requires a multidisciplinary research effort. The increased scientific involvement of the medical community, nutritionists, chemists and physicists is not only warranted but it has become mandatory. This is because we are entering a more advanced research phase in which the observed . in vivo effects should not be only recorded, but they should be systematically correlated with the physicochemical and analytical properties of the individual dietary fibers. The Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry of the American Chemical Society has recognized this for some time, and has asked us to organize another International Symposium, similar to one in 1982, which would address the latest developments in this field. We decided to ask a cross section of leading experts from industrial and academic research institutions to assess the state of the art in dietary fiber, namely in the areas of the physiological effects, physicochemical attributes, and in existing and proposed analytical methods. We also felt that chemistry and physical chemistry should playa greater role in fiber research to complement and better explain the existing . in vivo data. There is a large volume of animal and human physiological and nutritional data available. Unfortunately, the generated information is frequently confusing. One reason is that this research is not conducted with well characterized compounds, but rather with loosely defined complex mixtures or entities.

Physiological Effects and Physicochemical Properties.- Dietary Fiber: A Glance into the Future.- Effect of Soluble Fibers on Plasma Lipids, Glucose Tolerance and Mineral Balance.- Hypocholesterolemic Effects of Oat Products.- Gastrointestinal Responses to Dietary Fiber.- Dietary Fiber and Bile Acid Metabolism.- Physiological Effects and Physico-Chemical Properties of Soy Cotyledon Fiber.- Interaction of Dietary Fiber with Lipids-Mechanistic Theories and Their Limitations.- Chelating Properties of Fiber and Phytate. The Role for Mineral Availability.- Mechanisms of Action of Dietary Fibre on Small Intestinal Absorption and Motility.- The Effects of Undigestible Fructooligosaccharides on Intestinal Microflora and Various Physiological Functions on Human Health.- Physicochemical Properties and Physiological Effects of the (1 ? 3) (1 ? 4) - ²-D-Glucan from Oats.- Fiber and Physiological and Potentially Therapeutic Effects of Slowing Carbohydrate Absorption.- Physiological Implications of Wheat and Oat Dietary Fiber.- Polysaccharide Utilization by Human Colonic Bacteria.- Effect of Types of Dietary Fiber on Fecal Mutagens and Bacterial Enzymes in Relation to Colon Cancer.- Utilization of Purified Cellulose in Fiber Studies.- Analysis.- Complexity in the Interpretation of Data Derived from Studies of Dietary Fiber.- Issues in Dietary Fiber Analysis.- Collaborative Study of a Method for Soluble and Insoluble Dietary Fiber.- Non-Starch Polysaccharides (Dietary Fiber) and Resistant Starch.- Delimitation Problems in Definition and Analysis of Dietary Fiber.- Modifications of the AOAC Total Dietary Fiber Method.- Improved Methods for Analysis and Biological Characterization Fiber.- Dietary Fiber Analysis and Nutrition Labelling.- The Uppsala Method for Rapid Analysis of TotalDietary Fiber.- Simplified Method for the Determination of Total Dietary Fiber and its Soluble and Insoluble Fractions in Foods.- Differentiation of Dietary Fiber Sources by Chemical Characterization.- Analysis of Foodstuffs for Dietary Fiber by the Urea Enzymatic Dialysis Method.