A method to measure the water-holding properties of dietary fibre using suction pressure

1. Water-holding capacity (WHC) of dietary fibre is usually considered as the amount of water held but the manner in which water is held by the fibre matrix may be more relevant in understanding the role of fibre in nutrition. 2. A method used to determine WHC under physiological conditions has been adapted to determine how strongly water is held by fibre. Solutions of compounds, such as polyethylene glycol, of known osmotic potential are used to generate a suction pressure across a dialysis membrane containing a fibre sample. The WHC at each suction pressure can then be determined. 3. The method can be applied to water-soluble and water-insoluble sources of fibre. Fibre sources studied included potato fibre concentrate, bran and gum arabic. 4. Results are comparable to other similar systems of WHC measurement for gels and suggest that vegetable fibre has water-holding properties more akin to a true gel than bran. Bran has very poor water-holding properties. 5. Differences in WHC between fibre sources are more apparent if WHC is considered as fibre concentration (g fibre/g water). 6. Differences in the water-holding properties could be important in determining fibre activity in the gut.