Effect of soluble dietary fibre on postprandial blood glucose response and its potential as a functional food ingredient

Soluble dietary fibre (DF), including beta-glucan, guar gum, psyllium and alginate, reduce the absorption rate of glucose after the consumption of a high carbohydrate load through its beneficial viscosity properties. The addition of DF to high carbohydrate liquids and foods has shown significant reductions in postprandial glucose absorption albeit palatability issues at the concentrations required to see the beneficial effect have limited their applications as a functional food ingredient. Changes in the physiochemical properties of the DFs following food processing negatively impacts on DF viscosity and ultimately reduces efficacy. Research is focusing on exploring processing procedures that minimize disruption to these physicochemical properties such as changes to temperature, molecular weight and contact times. Furthermore, the development of novel composite DF blends that draw on individual characteristics is a novel method of utilizing DF as a functional food ingredient for its glycemic lowering ability.