Analysis of insoluble fiber components in common Indian foods and habitual diets

Dietary fiber components e.g. cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are estimated in 53 commonly consumed Indian foods, with an objective to get an estimate of habitual level of intakes in Indians. Results indicate that there is a wide range of variation in Indian foods in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content for all the classes of Indian foods. This is useful to modify the diets with varying proportions of fiber but giving the same level of calories. When our values were compared with fifteen values obtained by Kamat and Belavady (1) and nine values of Anuradhaet al (7) the values were found to be comparable (P>.01). However they were significantly different (P<.01) when compared with eleven values of Premakumari (8). A computer program FIBER. INT based on cooked factors is developed for the calculation of habitual level of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin for Indian diets. Total NDF is in the range 20.5–47.6 grams per day for 28 adult males and 15.2–26.1 grams per day for 6 females. However fiber expressed as gram per 1000 calories is 13.1 in females as compared to 11.9 in males. Diets with combination of wheat and sorghum were highest in fiber content (12.5 gram per 1000 K calories).