Dietary Fiber in Cereals, Legumes, Pseudocereals and Other Seeds

Abstract

Cereal grains, legumes/pulses, pseudocereals and other seeds provide most of the dietary fiber (DF) for humankind due to their high consumption. In these grains, the DF is primarily found in the outer tissues (pericarp or bran and testa or seed coat). Total dietary fiber (TDF) is affected by type of grain, genetics, growth environment and size and structure of the grain. TDF is also greatly affected by processing. Milling processes aimed towards the production of refined products greatly diminishes the amounts of TDF since most of the fibrous polysaccharides are associated to the bran in cereals and testa in legumes. Research and information on TDF in cereals is relatively significant compared to legumes and other grains. The objective of this chapter is to provide information about DF fractions (total, insoluble and soluble) and their specific components inherent to the anatomy of cereals, legumes/pulses and other grains commonly eaten by the world population. Overall, according to the available data, more updated research is needed to characterize dietary fibers in the aforementioned foods that provide more than 60% of the total caloric intake of humankind.