19
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
X. Dai et al. (eds.), Fungi in Sustainable Food Production, Fungal Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64406-2_2
Chapter 2
Fungal Production of Dietary Fibers
Divya and Shashank Mishra
2.1 Definition
Dietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food derived from plants. It
has two main components (Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy 2005):
• Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water.
• Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water.
There are various definitions for dietary fiber such as:
1. Institute of Medicine – Dietary fiber consists of no digestible carbohydrates and
lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants. Functional fiber consists of isolated,
nondigestible carbohydrates that have beneficial physiologic effects in humans.
Total fiber is the sum of dietary fiber and functional fiber (Institute of
Medicine 2005).
2. American Association of Cereal Chemists – Dietary fiber is the edible parts of
plants or analogous carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion and absorption
in the human small intestine, with complete or partial fermentation in the large
intestine. Dietary fiber includes polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, lignin, and
associated plant substances. Dietary fibers promote beneficial physiologic effects
including laxation, and/or blood cholesterol attenuation, and/or blood glucose
attenuation (American Association of Cereal Chemists 2001).
Divya
Department of Bio-Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
S. Mishra (*)
Quality Control and Quality Assurance Laboratory, Biotech Park,
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
X. Dai et al. (eds.), Fungi in Sustainable Food Production, Fungal Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64406-2_2
Chapter 2
Fungal Production of Dietary Fibers
Divya and Shashank Mishra
2.1 Definition
Dietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food derived from plants. It
has two main components (Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy 2005):
• Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water.
• Insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve in water.
There are various definitions for dietary fiber such as:
1. Institute of Medicine – Dietary fiber consists of no digestible carbohydrates and
lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants. Functional fiber consists of isolated,
nondigestible carbohydrates that have beneficial physiologic effects in humans.
Total fiber is the sum of dietary fiber and functional fiber (Institute of
Medicine 2005).
2. American Association of Cereal Chemists – Dietary fiber is the edible parts of
plants or analogous carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion and absorption
in the human small intestine, with complete or partial fermentation in the large
intestine. Dietary fiber includes polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, lignin, and
associated plant substances. Dietary fibers promote beneficial physiologic effects
including laxation, and/or blood cholesterol attenuation, and/or blood glucose
attenuation (American Association of Cereal Chemists 2001).
Divya
Department of Bio-Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
S. Mishra (*)
Quality Control and Quality Assurance Laboratory, Biotech Park,
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India