Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32

Review

Dietary fiber in
extruded cereals: strategic avenues followed by the food industry to reduce
energy density of foods is to increase their content of die-
tary fiber. In addition to its lower calorie content and the
Limitations and regulation of digestion, dietary fiber has positive effects
on cardiovascular health, diabetes, weight management
and on the immune system (Anderson et al., 2009). The
opportunities Codex Alimentarius recommends that any product claiming
to be a “source‟ of fiber should contain 3 g of fiber per

Fr
ed
eric Robina,b,*,
100 g of serving or 1.5 g of fiber per 100 kcal of serving
or 10% of daily reference value per serving. To claim
Heike P. Schuchmannb and that a food is “high” in fiber, the product must contain at
least 6 g of fiber per 100 g of serving or 3 g of fiber per
Stefan Palzerc 100 kcal of serving or 20% of daily reference value per
serving (Codex, 2009a). Increasing dietary fiber content
a
Department of Food Science & Technology, Nestl
e to achieve these content claims in extrusion-cooked directly
Research Center, PO Box 44, 1000 Lausanne 26, expanded cereals is challenging. Indeed, addition of dietary
Switzerland fiber most often leads to reduced expansion volumes, higher
b
Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences, densities, harder textures, less crispy and thus less preferred
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstrasse products (e.g. Lue, Hsieh, & Huff, 1991). Nevertheless,
12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany (Tel.: D41 21 785 soluble fibers such as inulin deliver a higher expansion
9573; fax: D41 21 785 8554; e-mail: frederic.robin@ and more favorable textures compared to insoluble fibers
rdls.nestle.com) such as e.g. cereal bran fiber (Blake, 2006). The difference
c
Nestl
e Product Technology Centre for Confectionery, in expansion properties between soluble and insoluble fiber
PO Box 204, Haxby Road, York YO91 1XY, may be explained by their effects on the mechanistic steps
United Kingdom of expansion. The fiber properties are also modified during
extrusion. This will affect the expansion properties and the
content of remaining dietary fiber after extrusion. Insoluble
Incorporation of dietary fiber in extruded products often leads fiber is less expensive than soluble fibers, more readily
to reduced expansion volumes and textures that are less pre- available and still undervalued in human nutrition (Blake,
ferred by consumers. Nevertheless, soluble fiber provides 2006). Modifications of insoluble dietary fiber prior to ex-
higher expansion volumes while they affect less the bulk den- trusion may lead to significant improvement in its expan-
sity of extruded products than insoluble fiber. The difference in sion properties and thus allow increasing applications in
expansion behavior and related textural properties between human nutrition.
soluble and insoluble fiber can be explained by their interac- The present work aims at reviewing the current state of
tions with starch, differences in water sorption and plasticiza- the art in the field of extruded cereals enriched with dietary
tion behavior but also by the physicochemical transformations fiber. The effect of the different types of fiber on expansion
they undergo during extrusion. Treatments of insoluble fiber, volumes, mechanism of expansion and associated texture of
prior to extrusion, can significantly improve their expansion extruded cereals is reviewed. The impact of extrusion on fi-
and textural properties. ber properties as well as newly developed technologies to
modify insoluble fiber and improve their properties in ex-
truded products is also provided.
Introduction
Extrusion-cooked products such as savory snacks or break-
Definition and classification of dietary fiber
fast cereals contain significant calorie amounts. One of the
The definition of dietary fiber is related to the macromo-
lecular structure of fiber which may be modified during ex-
* Corresponding author. trusion. Dietary fiber is defined as “edible carbohydrate
0924-2244/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2012.06.008
24 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32

polymers with ten or more monomeric units which are not except for oat in which about 50% of the fiber is soluble.
hydrolyzed by the endogenous enzymes in the small intes- Hydrocolloids such as inulin, fructooligosaccharide
tine of humans” (Codex, 2009b). The definition classifies (FOS), pectin or gums are fully soluble (Table 1).
the dietary fiber into three groups:

1) Carbohydrate polymers naturally occurring in the food Effect of extrusion on physicochemical and functional
as consumed properties of dietary fiber
2) Carbohydrate polymers, which have been obtained During extrusion, dietary fiber may be significantly
from food raw material by physiological, enzymatic modified. This leads to changes in its total dietary fiber con-
or chemical means tent and solubility. Ralet et al. investigated the effect of ex-
3) Synthetic carbohydrate polymers. trusion on a wide variety of dietary fiber-containing
ingredients such as sugar beet pulp (Ralet, Thibault, &
For the two last groups, physiological effects which are Della Valle, 1991), lemon fiber (Ralet, Axelos, &
beneficial to health need to be demonstrated. For this the Thibault, 1994; Ralet & Thibault, 1994), wheat bran
generally accepted scientific evidence has to be demon- (Ralet, Thibault, & Della Valle, 1990) or pea hulls (Ralet,
strated to competent authorities (Codex, 2009b). For func- Della Valle, & Thibault, 1993a; Ralet, Saunier, &
tional and technological purposes, dietary fiber is most Thibault, 1993b). They reported that the water solubility
often classified according to its solubility. A wide range of dietary fiber can be significantly increased when increas-
of commercial ingredients containing dietary fiber is avail- ing the specific mechanical energy (SME) during extrusion.
able. These ingredients differ in their content of dietary This relationship between the solubility of the fiber and
fiber and solubility of the fiber. The total dietary fiber con- specific mechanical energy was also recently reported by
tent and solubility level of some ingredients used to enrich Redgwell, Curti, Robin, Donato, and Pineau (2011) for ex-
extruded products with dietary fiber is given in Table 1. In truded citrus fiber.
general, refined cereal flours contain a low amount of fiber Due to its extensive use in extruded products, wheat and
(between 2 and 5%). Whole grain flours contain a higher its derivates have been the focus of a large number of stud-
amount of fiber (between 10 and 15%). The highest quan- ies. Similar to Ralet et al., Wang and Klopfenstein (1993a)
tity of fiber is found in the bran part of cereals reported an increase of about two folds in the solubility of
(20e90%). In cereals, dietary fiber is mostly insoluble wheat bran fiber after extrusion. Nevertheless, in studies of

Table 1. Content of total, insoluble and soluble dietary fiber of fiber-containing ingredients.

Food source Total dietary fiber Insoluble dietary Soluble dietary fiber References
[% w/w, d b] fiber [% w/w, d b] [% w/w, d b]
Cereal sources
Wheat flour 3.0 1.9 1.1 Dreher, 2001
Corn flour 2.9 2.9 0.0 Lue et al., 1991
White rice flour 2.7 e e Dreher, 2001
Barley flour 4.8 2.4 2.4 Vasanthan et al., 2002
Whole wheat flour 14.2 11.5 2.6 Dreher, 2001
Whole corn flour 12.8 11.7 1.1 Serna-Saldivar, 2010
Whole oat flour 10.4 e e Dreher, 2001
Whole white rice flour 1.3 0.9 0.4 Serna-Saldivar, 2010
Whole barley flour 15.4 11.5 3.9 Serna-Saldivar, 2010
Whole sorghum flour 11.8 10.8 1.0 Serna-Saldivar, 2010
Wheat bran 48.0 45.6 2.4 Dreher, 2001
Corn bran 88.1 86.0 2.1 Dreher, 2001
Oat bran 24.7 13.0 11.7 Dreher, 2001
Rice bran 27.0 24.5 2.5 Kahlon et al., 1998
Barley bran 72.5 69.4 3.1 Dreher, 2001
Vegetable and pulses sources
Soy bean 16.3 e e Dreher, 2001
Soy bran 67.5 60.5 6.9 Nielsen, 2010
Sugar beet pulp 72.5 62.2 10.3 Ralet et al., 1991
Pea hulls 90.6 85.3 5.3 Arrigoni et al., 1986
Commercial sources of highly soluble fibers
Inulin 100 0 100 e
FOS 100 0 100 e
Psyllium 87 17 70 Roney & Lang, 2003
Pectins 90-100 0 90-100 Fitzpatrick, 2007
Xanthan, guar, tragacanth, acacia gums 80-90 0 80-90 Fitzpatrick, 2007
 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32 25

Gualberto, Bergman, Kazemzadeh, and Weber (1997) and 1989). On the other hand, the increase in total dietary fiber
Kahlon, de Berrios, Smith, and Pan (2006), the effect of ex- content measured after extrusion may be explained by for-
trusion on the solubility of the wheat bran fiber is less pro- mation of resistant starch occurring during extrusion
nounced. The effect of extrusion was found to be not (Esposito et al., 2005). It may also be attributed to the for-
significant in the study of Caprez, Arrigoni, Amad
o, and mation of covalent interactions between macronutrients
Neukom (1986), Kahlon, Edwards, and Chow (1998) or leading to components that are insoluble (and therefore
Esposito et al. (2005). Differences in process conditions counted to the insoluble dietary fiber fraction) and not di-
and raw material properties (e.g. source and particle size) gestible by amylase or protease (Esposito et al., 2005;
can explain these varying results. Ralet et al. (1990) postu- Vasanthan et al., 2002). These indigestible glucans may
lated that solubilization of fiber is rather linked to the me- be Maillard reaction products likely resulting from chemi-
chanical stress than to thermal energy. The insoluble cal reactions between starch and proteins present within the
fractions of wheat bran fiber are mostly composed of xy- dietary fiber-containing matrix (Esposito et al., 2005).
lose, non-starch glucose and arabinose polymers which The change in structural properties and solubility of di-
contain also small amounts of mannose, galactose and glu- etary fiber during extrusion leads to significant differences
coronic acid (Ralet et al., 1990). During extrusion mainly in their functional properties (i.e. viscosity and interactions
xylose, glucose and arabinose oligo and polymers are solu- with water) compared to unprocessed fiber. For instance,
bilized. Slightly branched arabinoxylans are found to be Redgwell et al. (2011) reported a decrease in the viscosity
preferentially solubilized (Ralet et al., 1990). of citrus fiber when increasing the specific mechanical en-
Other cereal sources are also used to enrich extruded ergy input during extrusion. Ralet et al. (1994) reported
product with dietary fiber. Similar to wheat bran, extrusion that, after extrusion, a decrease in storage and loss modulus
increases the solubility of oat and rice bran fiber (Gualberto and intrinsic viscosity of diluted gels of highly methylated
et al., 1997; Zhang & Zhang, 2011). Nevertheless, oat and pectins can be measured. The shear viscosity of oat bran,
rice bran fiber appear more sensitive to extrusion compared measured using a rotational viscometer, and its shear thin-
to wheat fiber. Among oat and rice fiber, oat fiber is most ning behaviors was increased after extrusion (Zhang &
sensitive to extrusion (Gualberto et al., 1997). Extrusion Zhang, 2011). The changes in fiber interactions with water
of oat bran fiber increases the content of total and soluble after extrusion can be monitored by measuring their water
b-glucans as well as the total and soluble neutral sugars. holding capacity, water binding capacity (WBC) or swell-
As for wheat fiber, the effect of extrusion on fiber properties ing power. A significant decrease in the swelling ability
depends on the extrusion conditions. Indeed, unlike the and water binding capacity of sugar beet pulp and pea hulls
other studies, Kahlon et al. (1998) reported no significant was also reported after extrusion (Ralet et al., 1991, 1993a).
effect of extrusion on the solubility of rice, oat or corn bran. This effect is attributed to a decrease in cohesion of the cell
Extruding waxy barley, whole barley grains or barley walls caused by the rough extrusion conditions (Ralet et al.,
bran also leads to a significant increase in the content of 1991). On the contrary, Arrigoni et al. (1986) found no sig-
their soluble dietary fiber (Berglund, Fastnaught, & Holm, nificant effect of extrusion on the water holding capacity of
1994; Marlett, 1991; Østerg ard, Bj€ ork, & Vainionp€a€a, yellow pea hulls. The same authors also reported a signifi-
1989; Vasanthan, Gaosong, & Li, 2002). This effect is cant increase in water holding capacity of depectinised ap-
mainly attributed to an increase in the solubility of b-glucan ple pomace during extrusion. Zhang and Zhang (2011)
(Marlett, 1991; Vasanthan et al., 2002). Pea hull fiber also reported an increase in the swelling capacity of extruded
appears to be affected by extrusion but the extent of the oat bran.
modification also depends on the process conditions. While The morphology (i.e. size, shape, aspect ratio) of fiber is
Ralet et al. (1993a) reported an increase of three folds in also modified during extrusion. Redgwell et al. (2011) us-
the solubility of pea hull fiber, Arrigoni, Caprez, Amad
o, ing light microscopy observed that under extrusion, the par-
and Neukom (1986) observed no significant effect. Ralet ticle size of citrus fiber is reduced. The reduction in particle
et al. (1993b) attributed the increase in pea hull soluble size is increasing with increasing mechanical energy input
fiber content to the solubilization of neutral pectic sub- (see Fig. 1). Wheat bran particle size was also shown to be
stances or pectic side-chains. reduced when the specific mechanical energy introduced
As it can be derived from literature data, a significant de- during extrusion is increasing (see Fig. 2) (Robin,
crease or increase in total dietary fiber content can be found Dubois, Pineau, Schuchmann, & Palzer, 2011a). Similar
in fiber-containing ingredients after extrusion. The decrease results were reported by Zhang and Zhang (2011) for oat
in total dietary fiber content after extrusion can be associ- bran fibers.
ated to an increase in low molecular weight soluble fiber,
not recovered by alcohol precipitation (Gajula, Alavi, Influence of dietary fiber on expansion volumes and
Adhikari, & Herald, 2008; Wang & Klopfenstein, 1993a). cellular structure of extruded cereals
During extrusion, some of the resistant starch may also Effect of insoluble fiber
be transformed into in-vitro digestible starch, leading to By analogy to synthetic fillers, the effect of fiber on the
a decrease in total dietary fiber content (Østerg ard et al., composite matrix properties depends mostly on its type and
26 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32

Fig. 2. Light microscopy pictures of refined wheat flour with added

wheat bran extruded at different specific mechanical energy (SME)
and stained with light green and KI/I2 solution. The green color stains
bran particles, blue/purple color stains starch. Adapted from Robin
et al. (2011c). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader referred to the web version of this article.)

content (Shenoy, 1999, pp. 475). Increasing the content of

insoluble fiber reduces the sectional expansion of extruded
cereals. This effect was reported for brewers spent grains
(with an addition up to 30% (w/w)) (Ainsworth,
Ibanoglu, Plunkett Ibanoglu, & Stojecska, 2007;
Stojecska, Ainsworth, Plunkett, Ibanoglu, & Ibano glu,
2008a), wheat bran (up to 30%, Brennan, Monro, &
Brennan, 2008; Hern
andez-D
ıaz, Quintero-Ramos, Bar-
nard, & Blandr
an-Quintana, 2007; Lue, Hsieh, Peng, &
Huff, 1990; Onwulata, Konstance, Smith, & Holsinger,
2001), rice bran (up to 15%, Sekhon, Dhillon, Singh, &
Singh, 1997), corn bran (up to 32%, Mendoça,
Fig. 1. Light microscopy pictures of raw and extruded citrus fibers with
Grossmann, & Verh
e, 2000; Pai, Blake, Hamaker, &
varying specific mechanical energy (SME), stained with toluidine blue. Campanella, 2009), wheat fiber (up to 10%, Yanniotis,
Adapted from Redgwell et al. (2011). (For interpretation of the refer- Petraki, & Soumpasi, 2007), wheat bran (up to 50%,
ences to color in this figure legend, the reader referred to the web ver- Moore, Sanei, van Hecke, & Bouvier, 1990; Robin et al.,
sion of this article.) 2011a), cauliflower (up to 20%, Stojecska, Ainsworth,
 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32 27

Plunkett, & Ibano glu, 2008b), soy fiber (up to 20%, Jin, conditions does not change the sectional expansion of the
Hsieh, & Huff, 1995) or sugar beet fiber (up to 30%, Lue control flour or even slightly increases it. As for wheat
et al., 1991). The effect of fiber content on expansion vol- bran, increasing either inulin or guar gum content increases
umes often depends on the process conditions. For instance the bulk density of the control flour. This increase is never-
increasing wheat bran from 0 to 20% content has been theless only observed from 10% concentration. At this con-
shown to have only a limited effect on the sectional expan- centration the sectional expansion of the control flour is not
sion of an extruded wheat flour/pinto flour bean blend at significantly modified and therefore the increase in bulk
high water content in the extruder (Hern
andez-D
ıazet al., density is explained by a reduction in the porosity of the
2007). On the other hand, at low water content increasing sample (Brennan et al., 2008).
wheat bran significantly decreases the sectional expansion. While increasing insoluble fiber appears to systemati-
The decrease in sectional expansion when increasing insol- cally decrease sectional expansion and increase bulk den-
uble dietary fiber content often leads to an increase in lon- sity, the effect of the content of soluble fiber on
gitudinal expansion (Lue et al., 1990, 1991; Jin et al., 1995; expansion properties of extruded cereals is unclear. Indeed,
Robin et al., 2011a; Stojecska et al., 2008b). The bulk den- the effect does not only depend on the content of fiber. It
sity of extruded products is usually increased when adding may also depend on the molecular weight and structure
insoluble fiber (Ainsworth et al., 2007; Andersson, of the hydrocolloids. For instance a significant increase in
Hedlund, & Svensson, 1981; Blake, 2006; Brennan et al., sectional expansion of extruded rice was reported when in-
2008; Jin et al., 1995; Lue et al., 1990, 1991; Moore creasing hydrocolloids such as caboxymethyl cellulose
et al., 1990; Stojecska et al., 2008b; Yanniotis et al., (CMC), sodium alginate and gum acacia from 0 to 3%
2007). The effect is also process condition-dependant. For (Kaur, Singh, Sekhon, & Singh, 1999). As a result of this
some fiber qualities, the fiber content shows a quadratic re- increase in expansion properties, the density of extruded
lationship with the bulk density. For instance, addition of rice is significantly lowered when adding such hydrocol-
up to about 20% of soy flour decreases the bulk density loids. On the other hand, Maga and Fapojuwo (1988) mea-
of extruded corn flour. Further increasing the soy fiber con- sured an increased in bulk density of extruded corn grits
tent increases the bulk density (Jin et al., 1995). Interest- when supplemented with 1% of hydrocolloids such as cel-
ingly, resistant starch shows similar sectional expansion lulose derived hydrocolloids, locust beans, guar, agar, ara-
properties as soluble fiber such as inulin or guar gum bic, alginate, tragacanth, carrageenan, xanthan, pectin or
(Brennan et al., 2008). This is likely due to the high content gelatin gums. Maga, Hong Kim, and Wolf (1991) even ob-
of starch in resistant starches which favors their expansion served no significant effect on the expansion properties of
compared to other insoluble fiber. dehulled and degerminated yellow corn grits when adding
As visually observed, the addition of insoluble fiber such up to 0.5% gellan gum. A similar observation was made
as wheat or corn bran fiber leads to cellular structures with by Berrington et al. who reported no significant effect of
lower cell sizes and a higher cell density (Guy & Horne, guar gum, locust bean gum, sodium carboxymethyl cellu-
1988; Moore et al., 1990; Yanniotis et al., 2007. Robin lose, pectin and carrageenan at 1% addition on the expan-
et al. (2011a) used microcomputed X-ray tomography to sion properties of soya grits (Berrington, Imeson,
characterize the cellular structure of wheat bran- Ledward, Mitchell, & Smith J, 1984). Differences in vis-
containing extruded cereals. The authors measured an ex- cosity and interactions with water and with the other mac-
ponential increase in cell density of extruded wheat flour ronutrients present in the extruder as well as differences in
with wheat bran. An increase in cell number and decrease process conditions between the different studies may ex-
in their size was also reported for soy fiber (Jin et al., plain the differing effects of these hydrocolloids on the ex-
1995), brewer’s spent grain (Stojecska et al., 2008a), cauli- pansion properties of extruded cereals. Additionally,
flower (Stojecska et al., 2008b) and sugar beet fiber intense breakdown of the hydrocolloids may occur during
(Lue et al., 1991). This increase in cell density when adding extrusion and may also contribute to their effect on the ex-
insoluble fiber can be associated to an increase in nucle- pansion properties as hypothesized for sodium alginate and
ation degree in the extruder. gum acacia by Kaur et al. (1999). The effect of soluble fiber
on the expansion of extruded products also appears to de-
Effect of soluble fiber pend on the type of cereal to which the fiber is added.
The difference in expansion properties between soluble Indeed, at same extrusion conditions, addition of guar
and insoluble fibers is well illustrated by the study of gum (up to 10%) significantly increases the sectional
Brennan et al. (2008). In this work it is shown that, com- expansion of extruded potato flour, while it has no or
pared to the control flour sample containing no added fiber, only a comparable small effect on extruded maize, rice or
increasing up to 15% the wheat bran content significantly wheat flour (Parada, Aguilera, & Brennan, 2011). Guar
decreases the sectional expansion of extruded corn flour. gum addition also increases the cell density and reduces
This decrease in sectional expansion with wheat bran is as- the cell size in extruded maize, rice and wheat flour while
sociated with an increase in bulk density. Contrarily, adding it has only a small effect on the cell density of extruded po-
inulin or guar gum to the same level and at same process tato flour (Parada et al., 2011). Unlike for wheat fiber, the
28 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32

use of 10% inulin in extruded corn starch does not show corn grits is even not significantly modified by addition
visual differences in the cell dimensions and number of of carrageenan, xanthan and pectin at 1% (Maga &
cells (Brennan et al., 2008). Fapojuwo, 1988). Differences in chemical structure be-
tween the hydrocolloids may explain their varying effect
Effect of dietary fiber on the mechanistic steps of on the water binding properties of extruded cereals.
expansion of extruded cereals The viscoelastic properties of the melt at the die exit
The differences in expansion properties between fiber play a major role in the expansion mechanism and may
types can be explained by their effect on the mechanistic be affected differently depending on the type of fiber. The
steps of expansion, which include starch transformation, effect of wheat bran up to 16% on the apparent shear vis-
nucleation of bubbles, growth of bubbles, and bubble col- cosity of extruded wheat flour was assessed using a single
lapse (Moraru & Kokini, 2003). slit online rheometer by Moore et al. (1990) and Wang,
The first effect of adding insoluble fiber to cereals during Casulli, and Bouvier (1993b). They authors reported no sig-
extrusion is to reduce the starch content of the matrix. nificant effect at this level. Robin, Bovet, Pineau,
Another effect is to change the distribution of water be- Schuchmann, and Palzer (2011c) performed a similar study
tween starch and the other macronutrients in the extruder. using a proprietary online twin-slit rheometer. They also
Increasing cereal bran fiber decreases the water solubility found no significant effect of wheat bran at a level of about
and absorption properties of extruded cereals (e.g. Robin 25%. Nevertheless, a significant increase in shear viscosity
et al., 2011b). This is due to their insolubility and higher when further increasing the bran content to about 50%
hydrophobicity compared to starch. Robin et al. (2011a) re- could be measured. This increase in shear viscosity of the
ported that, at same water content, increasing wheat bran melt from this threshold bran content can be explained by
concentration significantly decreases the glass transition the reduced mobility of the starch molecules due to the
temperature of the starchy material due to more free water large size of bran particles. Additionally, interactions be-
available for starch. Although this was not experimentally tween bran particles may also contribute to this viscosity
proven, increasing wheat bran concentration in the extruder increase. Using an oscillatory rheometer and lower concen-
at same water content may therefore lower the viscosity of tration of wheat bran, Hern
andez-D
ıaz et al. (2007) re-
the starch phase. This may, along with other phenomena, ported a quadratic relationship between viscosity and
contribute to the reduced expansion properties of bran- wheat bran level in diluted solutions of extruded blends
containing extruded cereals. During extrusion, the semi- of wheat flour and pinto bean meal with a maximum level
crystalline starch material is melted and the molecular of apparent viscosity at 10% of wheat bran. The authors at-
weight of amylopectin molecules is reduced. The degree tributed this effect to the fiber that disrupts the continuous
of these transformations depends on the water content in structure of the melt above a critical concentration. Pai
the extruder (Moraru & Kokini, 2003). Therefore differ- et al. (2009) measured the apparent viscosity of extruded
ences in water repartition in the extruder when adding fiber corn flour with added corn bran using an offline capillary
may also affect the degree of starch transformation. Interac- rheometer. The authors reported a significant increase in
tions between hard insoluble fiber particles and soft starch the apparent viscosity when adding corn bran to achieve
molecules may also affect starch transformations. This nev- a content of dietary fiber of 26%. The increase in shear vis-
ertheless remains to be proven experimentally. cosity of the extruded melts when increasing insoluble fiber
Such mechanisms may also be true for soluble fiber. content may increase resistance against bubble growth at
Nevertheless, unlike soluble fiber, they are expected to in- the die exit. This may partially explain the reduced expan-
teract with water to a higher extent. Although sodium algi- sion properties of insoluble fiber-containing extruded
nate is soluble, it was reported to decrease the water products.
solubility and increase the water absorption of extruded Using an oscillatory rheometer and diluted solutions of
corn grit when added to 1% (Singh & Singh, 2004). This extruded samples, Singh and Singh (2004) reported an in-
can be attributed to the high water retention capacity of so- crease in viscosity of corn grits when increasing the content
dium alginate compared to starch. The gum competes with of sodium alginate. This was attributed to the effect of so-
water in the extruder and thus limits starch transformations dium alginate on viscosity and competition for water with
and leading to a reduced water solubility. A similar increase starch during extrusion (Singh & Singh, 2004). The addi-
in water absorption capacity was reported when increasing tion of gellan gum up to a level of 0.5% was shown to re-
sodium alginate (1%) in extruded defatted soy (Boison, duce the motor torque necessary to extrude corn grits
Taranto, & Cheryan, 1983) or carboxymethyl cellulose, so- (Maga et al., 1991). This reduction in torque was attributed
dium alginate and gum acacia in extruded cereals (Kaur to a lower dough viscosity at increasing fiber content. This
et al., 1999). Adding up to 1% of locust bean, guar gum result can be explained by the degree of water rehydration
or agar gum also increases the water absorption of extruded of the hydrocolloid. This can also be attributed to interac-
corn grits at 160  C. On the other hand, adding arabic, al- tions between starch and the hydrocolloids before starch
ginate and tragacanth reduces the water absorption at the transformation occurs in the extruder (Maga et al., 1991).
same temperature. The water absorption of the extruded A similar reduction in torque during extrusion of corn grits
 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32 29

was also observed at high temperature when adding locust properties and cell wall thickness) and by the dispersed
bean gum and guar gum at 1%. Nevertheless, adding the phase characteristics (porosity, cell size and density and
same level of tragacanth, carrageenan, xanthan, pectin distribution). The force necessary to rupture the expanded
had not significant effect (Maga & Fapojuwo, 1988). sample is most often used to characterize its hardness.
The effect of fiber on the elastic properties of the melt Insoluble fiber tends to reduce the sectional expansion
may also explain the decreased expansion volumes with in- and increase the density of the extruded cereals. This in-
soluble fiber (Guy & Horne, 1988; Moore et al., 1990; duces harder structures to break. This was for instance dem-
Yanniotis et al., 2007). Pai et al. (2009) used lubricated onstrated by Brennan et al. (2008) who reported an
squeezing flow rheometry to assess the effect of corn increased breaking force when increasing wheat bran con-
bran on extruded corn flour. They reported a decrease of tent up to 15% in extruded breakfast cereals. Similar results
the extensional viscosity of extruded corn meal. Robin were reported for wheat bran by Moore et al. (1990) or for
et al. (2012) used dynamic mechanical thermal analysis wheat fiber by Onwulata et al. (2001) or Yanniotis et al.
of thermo-molded extruded samples to assess the effect (2007). Increase in insoluble fiber content also leads to
of wheat bran on the elastic properties of extruded refined structure with a higher number of small cells. Robin,
wheat flour. They showed a significant decrease in storage Dubois, Curti, Schuchmann, and Palzer (2011d) compared
modulus of extruded wheat flour when increasing wheat extruded wheat flour samples having the same porosity
bran content. The authors explained the reduced elastic but different bran content. The increase in breaking strength
properties of wheat bran-containing melt with the low ad- of these samples with bran can be explained by the finer
hesion properties at the interface between bran particles structures obtained when increasing bran content. While
and starch. Brennan et al. (2008) observed an increase in breaking
Based on the observation that insoluble fiber-containing force when increasing bran content in extruded corn flour
extruded samples showed a higher surface porosity, burst of they only observed a slight change when adding either in-
the bubbles at the die exit has been proposed as a possible ulin or guar gum. The higher expansion volumes and lower
explanation for the reduced expansion properties of fiber- density of extruded corn samples obtained with inulin or
containing extruded products (e.g. Guy & Horne, 1988; guar gum can explain these differences. Same observations
Hsieh, Mulvaney, Huff, Lue, & Brent, 1991; Robin et al., were made for other hydrocolloids by Maga and Fapojuwo
2011a; Yanniotis et al., 2007). As an example, Fig. 3 shows (1988) or by Maga et al. (1991).
increasing surface porosity of extruded wheat flour with in-
creasing bran content as measured using micro-computed Improvement of expansion and textural properties of
X-ray tomography. The rupture of bubbles can be explained insoluble dietary fiber
by the low chemical compatibility between the insoluble fi- Soluble dietary fiber provides larger expansion volumes
ber particles and the continuous starch phase. Therefore, in- than insoluble fiber. Nevertheless, their price, lower com-
creasing the bran volume fraction increases the number of mercial availability and tendency to dissolve in water pro-
points of rupture across the bubble membrane. Addition- ducing a gummy or slimy product limit their quantity in
ally, the rupture is favored at a critical bubble membrane extruded products (Blake, 2006). The low physicochemical
thickness close to the bran particle size (Guy & Horne, compatibility between insoluble fiber and starch can mostly
1988). explain their reduced expansion volumes. This physico-
chemical compatibility can be improved by reducing the
Effect of dietary fiber on textural properties of size of the fiber particles and therefore by increasing con-
extruded cereals tact surface with starch. For instance, at the same extrusion
The mechanical properties of puffed products are driven conditions and fiber content, decreasing the average particle
by the continuous phase properties (physicochemical size of sugar beet fiber from 200 to 10 mm significantly

Fig. 3. X-ray tomography pictures of refined wheat flour with different levels of added wheat bran extruded at same process conditions. Adapted from
Robin et al. (2011c).
30 F. Robin et al. / Trends in Food Science & Technology 28 (2012) 23e32

Fig. 4. Pictures of corn meal with no added corn bran, untreated bran and alkali-treated bran extruded at same conditions (26% of dietary fiber in the
bran-containing samples). Adapted from Pai et al. (2009).

increases the sectional, longitudinal and volumetric expan- Conclusions

sion volumes of extruded corn meal (Lue et al., 1991). The The effect of fiber on the texture of extruded products
authors formulated two explanations for this effect: 1) the depends mostly on their interactions with starch and there-
coarse fiber retards the development of air bubbles and fore on the fiber type and quantity. Insoluble fiber signifi-
the gas pockets breaks down before they have reached their cantly reduces expansion volumes and increases density
maximum expansion, 2) the fine fiber because of its greater of extruded products, leading to harder textures. On the op-
water-binding capacity has more nucleation sites for water posite, soluble fiber leads to better expansion volumes
vapor to develop as the material exits the die (Lue et al., while less affecting bulk density of extruded products com-
1991). Reducing the particle size of corn bran from an av- pared to insoluble fiber components. The difference in
erage size of 250 mm to less than 50 mm (Blake, 2006) or expansion volumes between soluble and insoluble fiber
wheat bran from 1500 to 150 mm (Guy & Horne, 1988) can be explained by their water sorption, effect on the vis-
also significantly increases the sectional expansion of ex- coelastic properties of the melt at the die exit and stabiliza-
truded fiber-containing flours. The effect is nevertheless tion of the bubble membrane during bubble growth.
greater at higher at high concentrations (Blake, 2006). Treatments such as particle size reduction or increase in
The physicochemical compatibility between insoluble fi- solubility of fiber prior to extrusion shows significant im-
ber and starch can also be improved by increasing the sol- provement in properties of insoluble fiber-containing prod-
ubility of the fiber. Increase in the solubility of corn fiber ucts. Assuming they comply with the definition of fiber and
was obtained using strong alkaline solutions (Blake, country regulations, fiber modifications provide a great op-
2006). The principle of this technique is based on mixing portunity to use low cost and undervalued fiber sources in
corn bran with sodium hydroxide to hydrolyze the ferulic extruded products.
acid ester cross-linkages. Alkali-soluble and -insoluble
fractions are recovered by centrifugation, neutralization
and precipitation with ethanol. Applying this technology, References
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