Invisible fiber added to foods for a healthy diet

Fiber X can be added to low-fiber foods, such as white bread, cakes, pasta, pizza and sauces, to make them more healthful.

Scientists have transformed indigenous plant starches, such as wheat, corn and cassava, into a dietary fiber called FiberX, which can be added to food to make it healthier without changing its texture, color or taste. This fiber resists digestion in the human intestine, just like natural fibers.

According to the press release of the Royal Australian Institute of Technology published on November 23, “FiberX” fibers are not only smooth and tasteless, but may also be gluten-free, and are suitable for strengthening low-calorie and low-sugar foods.

"invisible fibers"

Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, worked with researchers at Microtec Engineering Group , an engineering company that provides starch processing equipment, to develop a starch-based product called FiberX. (FiberX).

Fiber X can be added to low-fiber foods such as white bread, cakes, pasta, pizza and sauces to make them more healthful.

Project leader Associate Professor Asghar Farahnaki and his team, from the Royal Institute of Technology's Center for Food Research and Innovation, used advanced starch modification technology with nutritionally approved materials to create what they describe as an "invisible fiber".

"We can now add more fiber to foods - such as white bread and other staples - without changing the taste or texture, which has been one of the main problems with many commercially available fiber supplements to date," he said in the institute's press release.

"Our product is not even noticeable once it is added; it is like a mother who hides vegetables in a child's meal to make it more nutritious," he added.

The importance of fiber

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that is not digested in the human intestine, and can help improve the health and function of the digestive system. It can also help prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes, and reduce risk factors for some cardiovascular diseases.

Increasing the fiber content of food products by 10% to 20% while also maintaining a pleasant taste and texture is a challenge across the food industry.

Existing foods with added fiber may have a different taste or flavor than the original product. As part of the research, Farahnaki's team conducted taste tests and texture analyzes on bread and cakes with varying amounts of added Fiber X, and found that they were able to add up to 20% more fiber to the food while preserving the original taste of the product.

"This new technology means we can increase the amount of fiber that goes into food so that we can get our recommended daily intake, even when eating smaller amounts of foods," Farahnaki said.

Co-researcher Dr. Mahsa Majzoubi, senior research fellow and vice president of the university, said that with this new technology, the team can convert more than 80 percent of the starch into dietary fiber. The research team says that "FiberX" has been tested using internationally approved methods at the Royal Institute of Technology and the Australian Certified Export Grain Innovation Center.

Reducing food waste

Australia currently produces 5,000 tons of legume protein, which naturally contains high levels of protein from 14% to 39%, making it a suitable starting material for plant protein production annually, but generates 30,000 tons of waste.

Microtech's Center for Food Research and Innovation and the Royal Institute of Technology have also partnered with the Collaborative Research Center for Food Waste Control to study the utilization of starch waste and fiber-rich by-products.

The new technology will lead to the creation of new high-quality food products rich in dietary fiber (Shutterstock)

"In addition to the health benefits, FiberX technology also has the potential to improve supply chain challenges, reduce food waste and increase local jobs," Farahnaki said.

"This partnership will not only help reduce food waste on a large scale, but will also lead to the creation of new high-quality food products rich in dietary fibre," he added.

He stressed that this new technology will enable the production of dietary fiber using a cost-effective and energy-efficient process on a large scale. Scaling up this technology will mean that the food industry will have access to large amounts of unseen dietary fiber at affordable prices to provide high-fiber foods to consumers.