The range of dietary fibre ingredients and a comparison of their technical functionality.

This chapter describes the evolving definition of dietary fibres and their technical functionalities when applied in various food products. Dietary fibres can be categorized into three groups, insoluble dietary fibre, soluble dietary fibre and resistant starch. Soluble dietary fibre has been widely used as thickener, emulsifier, stabiliser, fat replacer, suspending and gelling agents, etc. in food and pharmaceutical industry. For each dietary fibre ingredient, the chemical composition, physical and functional properties, and common applications are described in the chapter. Dietary fibres are becoming one of the most important food ingredients for their irreplaceable roles of techno-functional as well as biofunctional purposes in food products. The future trends and challenges of dietary fibre applications are also discussed.