Plant Cell Walls as Dietary Fibre: Range, Structure, Processing and Function

Abstract

The ingestion of dietary fibre has been correlated with the prevention of many health-threatening diseases and cancers. Plant cell walls are the major source of dietary fibre and this review investigates the relationship between the structure of different types of plant cell walls and their beneficial effects. The effects of processing and cooking on dietary fibre are also examined. Structure–function relationships between individual cell wall components and the beneficial effects of dietary fibre are not well defined and it may be that the physical, physiochemical and topochemical properties of plant cell walls and their components are also important.