About the book
Dietary fiber, also known as roughage, is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. It has become an important component of the human diet recently due to its many functional properties especially owing to the effect on gut metabolism and health.
This book is aimed at providing an insight into the properties of dietary fiber - what makes it a special nutrient, its chemical characteristics, methods of analysis and the impact on gut activity, i.e. behavior as a pre-biotic for gut microbiota. It is hoped that the book will serve as an update when it comes to recent research, highlighting gaps and voids in previous research as well as setting a new direction towards studies to be conducted in the future. Not just for the scientific readership, the book is aimed to target even the non-expert so that awareness can spread among general consumers on the importance of incorporating dietary fibers into the everyday diet.
