Dietary fiber extraction for human nutrition: a review

Abstract

Fiber is a mixture of nonstarch polysaccharides that resist digestion by enzymes in the gastrointestinal canal. Some known methods of extracting fiber from plant sources include dry processing, wet processing, chemical, gravimetric, enzymatic, physical, microbial or a combination of these methods. Modified wet milling is the most cost effective in the wet milling group as it uses minimal chemicals, produces high purity products and uses less water than the other methods. The purity of fibers extracted using the modified wet milling method range from 49.7% – 89.6%. An ideal extraction method should be affordable and produce fibers of high purity.