Fibre fortification – only a new trend or an important key to a healthier life? The intense grow of “ready to eat” convinience food results in a lower intake of fibre. Whole grain products and vegetables are not consumed as they should. Fortification with fibre is a way to healthier products for the health conscious consumers. That there is benefit through fibre enrichment is clear. How great and widespread the advantage for human welfare is, that is keeping science busy. A functional gut system through a fibre-rich nutrition seems to be the fundament for lower Glycemic Index and even for better mental health.
To be honest, until now many claims in this field of research are more allegations with not the best evidential value. This is a general problem in research covering the influence of food ingredients to human health, like studies are made with not enough attendees, or in a too short period. Imagine, it is realy not easy to find out, what the favourite dish of the billions of microorganism in your colon is, and what a change of their population means for you. And finally, how will their degradation products impact your health. Sure is, our intestinal system is much more than a simple energy supplier. You need a more integral approach to get a clearer view in this point of interest.Prebiotic – what does it meanOne definition of fiber could be, that fibers are nutrients, that are only partly degraded in your colon, by your intestinal bacteria, called your microflora. By feeding these billions of microarganism, they are getting stronger and more diverse. That’s called prebiotic. The degredation products of this process are mainly short fatty acids, which influence your health.Why to choose Acacia gumThere are a lot options for for fibre fortification. The question is, why do you have to take gum arabic? Most important, naturalness! Our acacia gums are natural products, which are not chemically changed in their structure, like most of the starch products, for example. Second, sustainability! Mostly wild harvested by the rural people of the sahel region, the gum supplies income and so the increased possibility for the important savanah forests not do end as charcol. Indirectly the gum business helps to fight the desertification. There are no monocultures. No pesticides and no fertilizers are used. In comparision to other fibres, it is well-tolerated by human digestive system with less side effects. It is only slow fermented by intestinal bacteria to short chain fatty acids, with a proven prebiotic effect. It Is low in calorie, hence an ideal bulking agent to replace sugar or fat. Last but not least, it is highly competive in price and in applicability. Easy solubility, even in cold water-based media, a high pH and temperature stability, or the neutral sensoric making life easy for the industrial user. You can also benefit from the multifunctionality of gum arabic. Maybe an enhanced mouthfeel, more roundness or a better stabilisation in your product, could be a useful “side effect”.