Hot water and cellulase hydrolysis extraction methods were used to obtain soluble and insoluble fractions of dietary fiber (DF). Concentrates of the DF fractions were used to study their structure, physical properties (particle size, density, porosity, and oil adsorption capacity), hydration properties (swelling, water binding capacity, and viscosity), and glucose dialysis retardation index. Hydrolysis with cellulase modified the physical and hydration properties of the different samples analyzed, since this enzyme reduced the particle size in soluble and insoluble dietary fiber (SDF and IDF, respectively), while increasing the water binding capacity of IDF and decreasing that of SDF. Correlation studies carried out between the different properties analysed, showed that the behavior of hydrated fiber and the delay in glucose diffusion are determined by the physical properties of fiber. Keywords: Dietary fiber; functional properties; fiber extraction and artichoke

A study was made of both Desi (16 cultivars) and Kabuli (21 cultivars) chickpea biotypes grown under the same environmental conditions in order to evaluate the influence of the biotype factor as source of variance of the proximate composition and antinutritive substances content. Differences were found between the two biotypes for fat, total dietary fibre (TDF), insoluble dietary fibre (IDF), phytic acid and tannin content. Desi biotypes revealed lower fat and phytic acid contents, whereas Kabuli biotypes showed lower TDF, IDF and tannin content. Differences in coat thickness, as reported in the literature, are confirmed as a source of differences between the two biotypes in the fat, TDF, IDF, phytic acid and tannin content. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry.

A simple mixture process design based on the comparison of both quadratic and special cubic models and involving three mixture components (hexane/acetone/ethanol) as a solution for extracting lycopene from raw tomato, tomato sauce, and tomato paste was used to confirm the hypothesis that lycopene extraction rates are a function of the solvent used during the extraction process. Conventional criteria (p