Wanted: Added fibers

As health-conscious consumers pay close attention to the nutrition factsheets and make educated purchasing choices, products with added fibers are popular choices in the bakery aisle.

+How can bakers leverage this increased interest in health-boosting foods by helping consumers see bread in a new light, beyond an everyday staple? Puratos anticipates that the nutrient on track to drive this transition is fiber. “Showing bread as a source of valuable nutrients and enabling access to the health benefits of those nutrients could be the panacea for consumer demands and inspirational NPD,” says Raluca Florea, Gut Health Leader, Health & Well-being, Puratos.

The role of fiber in maintaining healthy bodies and minds is becoming better understood by the scientific community and recognized and accepted by consumers. From aiding digestion to supporting the immune system, fiber is now seen as the key to unlocking a myriad of health benefits. And the science speaks for itself. Research has found that an intake of at least 25-30 grams of fiber each day is associated with lower weight, blood pressure, blood sugars and cholesterol, as well as reduced risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, or even certain types of cancer1 . However, the vast majority of consumers fall short of the recommended daily intake. “Bread, given its position as a frontrunner in the fiber-rich movement and its widespread consumption, is the perfect vessel for closing this fiber gap,” Florea underlines.

While white bread still dominates the European market, wholemeal loaves and others with a higher fiber content are increasingly gaining market share. But these are not the only routes to superfood success, Puratos finds, and there is room for innovation to meet consumer demand and product differentiation.

“Bread, given its position as a frontrunner in the fiber-rich movement and its widespread consumption, is the perfect vessel for closing this fiber gap.”

Raluca Florea, Gut Health Leader, Health & Well-being, Puratos

Finding the winning fiber formula

A growing awareness of the gut’s role in overall health and well-being is helping to fuel the rise of fiber. “Consumer understanding of the intrinsic link between fiber and good gut function is reflected in Puratos’s proprietary Taste Tomorrow research. The survey revealed that 83% of Europeans believe fibers to have a positive impact on digestion. Furthermore, three in four respondents understand that improving gut health, by choosing fiber-rich foods, can positively impact immunity and mental health,” adds Florea.

More than two-thirds (70%) of European Taste Tomorrow respondents said they were interested in food products that improve gut health. In this context, bread is best placed to bring high-fiber benefits to consumers, but also offers

bakers the opportunity to diversify offerings and relieve pressure on profit margins, the company’s study concludes.

In addition to consumers’ prioritizing health, the Taste Tomorrow research also found that taste and texture are among the top drivers for purchasing. “Therefore, bakers who can successfully strike the balance between sustenance and satisfaction can bank on product offerings with wider consumer appeal and higher profitability potential,” she underlines. One way to find this balance is with “simple incorporations and seamless recipe modifications”.

Rising to the fiber-rich challenge

There is a growing perception among consumers that inclusions, such as grains and seeds, are ‘power ingredients’, helping to improve the nutritional profile and sensorial experience of breads. Taste Tomorrow found that 8 in 10 European consumers now rank ‘power ingredients’ as the top contributor to taste and health aspects for bread. Bakers can leverage this perception by incorporating these fiber-rich ingredients into their product offerings.

Looking at sprouted grains, for example, there is a renewed interest in these ancient grains, thanks to their ability to increase the fiber, vitamin and mineral bio-availability in finished products. Sourdough is also growing in popularity, which is owed to its digestibility attributes. But, Puratos highlights that their main consumer attraction is their positive impact on taste and texture: “It satisfies the demands of customers looking for tasty, healthy breads, made from natural ingredients.” In addition, sourdough, by using different starters is rich in the variety it can provide. Some ingredients suppliers are going one step further with a ‘best of both’ approach, bringing innovations to market that consist of specially selected whole grains and seeds that are cooked in sourdough. Another innovative high-fiber option is wheat bran sourdough, which combines the taste of sourdough with a fiber content up to four times higher than whole meal flour, Puratos illustrates. “As well as boosting the ‘health halo’ and taste experience of products, these inclusions can be incorporated into existing recipes and formulations, with little to no modifications. This makes the drive for fibrous breads more inclusive and attainable to bakers of all types and sizes, from large industrial operations to smaller, artisanal businesses,” Florea explains.

As the impact of fiber on gut and holistic health gains in recognition, the demand for naturally-fermented, nutritionallyrich foods will flourish further, the ingredient specialist anticipates: “Opportunities are indeed rife, with the global dietary fiber market projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.23% between 2021 and 2026, according to a recent Mordor Intelligence report. Interestingly, Europe is at the forefront of this trend.” Capitalizing on the fiber trend need not be a burdensome task for bakers, however. Sprouted grains, fibers and sourdough offer simple yet effective ways to create products that balance gut-boosting properties and are great tasting.

© Puratos Product reformulating with fibers

Fibers improve the nutritional profiles of bakery products and allow related packaging claims. Functional fibers can also provide several benefits, from contributing to better blood glucose management to supporting the balance of the intestinal flora by stimulating the growth of beneficial bifidobacteria – an important element of good digestive health.

However, fiber-enriched products tend to have a grainy or bland taste, so there is a need to incorporate fibers in a convenient and consumer-friendly way. Inulin and oligofructose are soluble and, depending on the type of functional fiber, have a neutral and balanced to slightly sweet flavor. This allows the original taste of a product to be maintained, while also delivering in terms of mouthfeel and texture. They can also be used to create sugar-reduced, fat-reduced and calorie-reduced bakery products with a cleaner label.

Fat/sugar reduction is possible: For example, for waterbased bakery fillings that also contain fat, Orafti® Inulin can be incorporated as a fat replacer. It can stabilize water into a creamy structure with a similar mouthfeel to fat. So, a part of the fat content can be replaced with inulin. In applications like soft baked goods or biscuits, BENEO's chicory root fibers also allow for sugar reduction.

Obtaining a good texture in the final product can also be a challenge, depending on the type of fiber used. When adding fibers to bread, it can sometimes decrease the volume of the end product, so some optimization of the recipe may be necessary. Color can also factor in, with some fibers such as those in wheat or bran making the bread crumb light brown. BENEO’s Orafti® Inulin, for example, keeps the crumb color white.

Replacing certain ingredients with alternative solutions that will improve the product’s nutritional profile is only the start. The next step is to also enrich them with ingredients that provide an added benefit. For example, BENEO explains that its Orafti® Inulin and Oligofructose have a natural sweet taste, mild and delicate in perception, so the sugar can be reduced in recipes using them. While inulin-type fructans occur naturally in a number of fruits and vegetable plants, chicory root is a particularly rich source. “BENEO gently extracts inulin from the root through hot water processing, from which oligofructose is then derived through partial enzymatic hydrolysis – a transformation that occurs naturally in the chicory root during the late harvest period. Thus, both inulin and oligofructose are of 100% plant origin,” Gitte Vaes, Product Manager Functional Fibers, BENEO, says.

Coming in powder or liquid form, these chicory root fibers are also allergen-free. The powder ingredients can be easily incorporated into bakery mixes, for example. Increasing

“BENEO gently extracts inulin from the root through hot water processing, from which oligofructose is then derived through partial enzymatic hydrolysis – a transformation that occurs naturally in the chicory root during the late harvest period.”

Gitte Vaes, Product Manager Functional Fibers, BENEO

2 Nagy DU, Sándor-Bajusz KA, Bódy B, Decsi T, Van Harsselaar J, Theis S & Lohner S (2022) Effect of chicory-derived inulin-type fructans on abundance of Bifidobacterium and on bowel function: a systematic review with meta-analyses. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. Published 14 July 2022, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2098246 3 Cani P, Joly E, Horsmans Y, Delzenne NM (2006) Oligofructose promotes satiety in healthy human: a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr 60(5):567–572. www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/ v60/n5/pdf/1602350a.pdf 4 McCann MT, Livingstone MBE, Wallace JMW, Gallagher AM, Weich RW (2011) Oligofructose-enriched Inulin supplementation decreases energy intake in overweight and obese men and women. Obesity Reviews, 12(S1):63–279. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00889.x/pdf 5 Parnell JA and Reimer RA (2009) Weight loss during oligofructose supplementation is associated with decreased ghrelin and increased peptide YY in overweight and obese adults. Am J Clin Nutr 89(6):1751–1759. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3827013/pdf 6 Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hawthorne KM, Liang L, Gunn SK, Darlington G, Ellis KJ (2005) A combination of prebiotic short- and long-chain inulin-type fructans enhances calcium absorption and bone mineralisation in young adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 82:471-476. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16087995/

the fiber content of bakery products with these prebiotic chicory root fibers can have several benefits: + Digestion: As proven prebiotics, they support healthy gut microbiota and selectively promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the gut (e.g., bifidobacteria), reaching the large intestine almost intact. “Chicory root fibers are the preferred food for beneficial microorganisms and thus help them to grow and multiply,”

Vaes explains, adding these effects on bifidobacteria abundance in gut microbiota and on bowel function parameters have recently been demonstrated by a new systematic literature review with meta-analyses2 . + Weight management: Chicory root fibers play several roles in this regard. They can help achieve the desired taste with fewer calories (Orafti® Inulin and Oligofructose contain 2 kcal/g). Moreover, BENEO says its prebiotic fibers – especially Orafti® Synergy1 and Oligofructose – have been shown to help people eat less3,4,5. “As prebiotic dietary fibers, they are fermented by the beneficial bacteria within the digestive tract, where they trigger a cascade of metabolic effects that result in naturally less food intake,” the ingredient specialist explains. In addition, by replacing sugar or other high glycaemic carbohydrates in food formulations, chicory root functional fibers reduce the glycaemic response of foods. + Calcium absorption: “Oligofructose-enriched Inulin Orafti®

Synergy1 is efficient in enhancing the bioavailability of

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© BENEO

calcium in the diet – an important prerequisite for lifelong bone health. The absorption of calcium takes place in the small intestine. However, the fermentation by prebiotic microbiota influences the ecosystem of the large intestine in such a way that calcium absorption can occur here as well. Several human intervention studies have shown that Orafti® Synergy1 can boost calcium absorption,” BENEO explains. A one-year-long study has provided further evidence that increased calcium absorption translates into tangible improvements in bone health-related parameters such as bone mineral density6 .

Communication is key in getting the benefits out of developing products to meet this trend: the nutritional and potential health benefits of enhanced product offerings should be clearly announced, through the appropriate label claims. +++

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