Researchers Develop An "Invisible Fiber" That Can Improve Cakes And Pizza

The majority of us could use a bit extra fibre in our diets, and adding it without sacrificing the taste of a food may get a lot simpler soon. Australian researchers at RMIT University have created a modified starch product that can be added to food without changing its flavour, appearance, or texture.

Its name is FiberX, and local starches including wheat, corn, and cassava were used to make it. Similar to genuine fibre, it doesn't break down in the human gut, allowing bacteria in the colon to ferment it and possibly enhancing digestion.

The creators of FiberX claim that it can be used to improve the health of low-fiber foods like cakes and pizza as well as low-calorie and low-glycemic index foods. It can also be prepared without using gluten.

Food technologist Asgar Farahnaky, an associate professor from RMIT University stated that One of the main problems with many commercially available fibre supplements up to this point was that they altered the taste or texture of foods like white bread and other mainstays. Once added, their product is barely apparent. It's comparable to a parent sneaking vegetables into their child's lunch to make it healthier.

According to taste tests, the researchers claim they could add up to 20% more fibre to foods using FiberX before anyone detected a difference in flavour or texture. That is a substantial sum. The molecular structure of starch was altered to create FiberX, which was then tested with digestive enzymes to evaluate how it would perform in the body's digestive system.

Fiber is a carbohydrate that the human gut cannot digest, which has the benefit of enhancing the digestive system's performance and maintaining its health. It is known to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and help avoid obesity and type 2 diabetes. According to the researchers, FiberX has advantages besides just positive effects on health. For instance, the enormous amounts of waste generated as a result of the production of plant proteins can be converted into dry pulse starch and then FiberX.

Although there are still many steps to be taken before FiberX can actually appear in diets, the research team is partnering with the Microtec Engineering Group to work on getting it out of the lab and into actual products, and at a competitive price. It will be crucial to determine how this modified starch affects the microorganisms that reside inside of us as natural fibre has a significant impact on how our gut microbiota functions.