There has been consensus since the late 1970s that "dietary fiber consists of the remnants of edible plant cells, polysaccharides, lignin and associated substances resistant to (hydrolysis) digestion by the alimentary enzymes of humans." This definition identifies a macroconstituent of foods that includes cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, gums, modified celluloses, mucilages, oligosaccharides, and pectins and associated minor substances, such as waxes, cutin, and suberin. The physiological definition was reaffirmed among scientists internationally in surveys in 1992 and 1993 and as the outcome of a consensus workshop in 1995. Methodology commensurate with most aspects of the definition (AOAC 985.29 /AACC 32-05) was adopted and became the de facto defining method. Minor gaps between the definition and current methods will require further method development, validation, and adoption to ensure inclusion of all components that make up dietary fiber.
The following historical perspective provides a chronology of dietary fiber, from the time the term was first coined in the 1950s to the present debate over the scope of the definition. This file is available only as a portable document format (PDF) file for which you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
Cereal Foods World 44(5):367-369
Full-text article: Publication no. W-1999-0423-010
A Historical Perspective on Defining Dietary Fiber. J. W. DeVries, L. Prosky, B. Li, and S. Cho. Copyright 1999 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc.
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