A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE, ENZYME SOURCE, AND SEQUENCE OF DIGESTION ON NEUTRAL DETERGENT FIBER

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Abstract
A number of methods for determining dietary fiber have been suggested. Thus, ten modifications of the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) procedure were compared using spinach, bread, and parsnips. Use of Bacillus subtilis alpha amylase resulted in lower (p < .01) NDF values than did porcine pancreatic amylase. Amylase obtained from B. subtilis may contain other enzymes such as hemicellulase and cellulase in small amounts. These enzymes would be undesirable since they may remove some of the fiber fraction, hence the reported NDF would be lower. Temperature of incubation, 21°C or 37°C, did not significantly affect fiber values. Samples predigested with amylase had higher (p < .01) fiber values in a high starch food than samples in which amylase incubation occurred after detergent digestion. NDF values may have been higher because starch was less available for enzymatic hydrolysis before the detergent digestion. When amylase was added directly to the detergent solution after refluxing, NDF was not significantly different (p < .05) from that quantified by the official AACC method or most of the other treatments. Implications of these findings are discussed with respect to their significance in practical applications.

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