All-in-one measurement of dietary fibre, including resistant starch, in bread

Introduction In 2008/2009 both Codex and the European Union adopted almost identical definitions of dietary fibre, including all carbohydrate polymers that are not digested or absorbed in the human small intestine. The current method generally used for the analysis of dietary fibre in food products is AOAC Official Method 985.29. This method measures resistant starch and non-digestible oligosaccharides, now officially included in the definition of dietary fibre, only partially. Objective Here we present an alternative method for the measurement of total dietary fibre, including resistant starch and non-digestible oligosaccharides. Result Employment of this method for the measurement of dietary fibre in different types of bread results in higher dietary fibre values compared to those measured with AOAC method 985.29 with average differences ranging from 0.48% to 0.78%. Conclusion Although only proven for bread products in this article the actual levels of dietary fibre, as defined by Codex and European Union, in bread products are higher than levels listed in food composition databases. The same may be true for other food products containing resistant starch and non-digestible oligosaccharides. As shown here for bread, this may result in different claims on food products with regard to fibre content.