Dietary Fiber Content of Corn Bran

Abstract

The dietary fiber (DF) content in a corn bran flour obtained from Tabor Milling Company was estimated and analyzed using a fractionation procedure developed previously. This method includes estimation of cold and hot water-soluble biopolymers as well as total pectic substances, hemicellulose, cellulose and Klason lignin. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the neutral sugars in the carbohydrate polymers was achieved by gas-liquid chromatography. Acidic sugars were estimated by a modified carbazole reaction. The corn bran flour was estimated to contain 50.12% total DF. The DF was composed of 34.49% hemicellulose, 12.34% cellulose, 0.23% Klason lignin and 3.06% total pectic substances. These values were similar to those obtained from the analysis of a standard wheat bran using the same methodology in another study.