We’ve all heard the advice, “Eat more fiber.” But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. As part of a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health-funded project, UC Davis scientists are building a library of biomarkers associated with specific fiber food sources as they pass through the gut. The goal is to build a comprehensive understanding of the structural diversity of fibers and how those structures influence digestive health.

Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Carlito B. Lebrilla and other UC Davis researchers are paving a path to commercialize a new technology that they hope will make dietary fiber easier to add into food and more acceptable to the consumer. The novel depolymerization technology can chop up fiber from long polysaccharides into small, bioactive chains of carbohydrates, called oligosaccharides. The process doesn't change the structure of the fiber, but makes it soluble, digestible and palatable.