Dace Klava

Knowledge about dietary fibre: a fibre study framework

Abstract The objective of this work was to study the degree of knowledge about dietary fibre (DF), as influenced by factors such as gender, level of education, living environment or country. For this, a descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries in different continents (Europe, Africa and America). The results showed that the participants revealed on average a positive but still low global level of knowledge, which alerts for the need to take some actions to further inform the population about DF and its role as a component of a healthy diet. The results also indicated differences between genders, levels of education, living environments and countries. The highest level of knowledge was revealed by the participants from female gender, with higher education and living in urban areas. Concerning the country, the best informed were the participants from Romania, followed by those from Portugal and Turkey while the least informed were from Egypt.

Benefits of dietary fibre to human health: study from a multi-country platform

Purpose Because dietary fibre has been recognized as a major ally to the maintenance of a healthy body as well as to help against the development of some chronic diseases, this paper aims to study the level of knowledge of a relatively wide range of people about the health effects related to the ingestion of dietary fibre in appropriate dosages. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6,010 participants. The data were collected from 10 countries in three different continents (Europe, Africa and America) and measured the level of knowledge regarding different health benefits from dietary fibre. The questionnaires were applied by direct interview after verbal informed consent. Findings The results obtained considering the general level of knowledge revealed a considerable degree of information about the benefits of fibre (average score of 3.54 ± 0.5, on a scale from 1 to 5). There were significant differences between genders (p < 0.001), with higher average score for women, and also for level of education (p < 0.001), with higher score for university level. The living environment also showed significant differences (p < 0.001), with people living in urban areas showing a higher degree of knowledge. Also for countries the differences were significant (p < 0.001), with the highest score obtained for Portugal (3.7), and the lowest for Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania (3.5). However, despite these differences, the results showed that for all the countries the degree of knowledge was good (above 3.5), corresponding to a minimum level of knowledge of 70 per cent. Originality/value This work is considered important due to the wide coverage, including so many countries inclusive with different social and cultural settings. The study allowed concluding that, in general, the participants in the study were quite well informed about the benefits of dietary fibre for the improvement of human health, regardless of gender, level of education, living environment or country. This finding is very relevant considering the diversity of people that composed the sample and reinforces the necessity of continuing with educational policies aimed at providing the general population with the knowledge that might help them make appropriate food choices.

Knowledge about sources of dietary fibres and health effects using a validated scale: a cross-country study

OBJECTIVES Dietary fibre (DF) is one of the components of diet that strongly contributes to health improvements, particularly on the gastrointestinal system. Hence, this work intended to evaluate the relations between some sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, level of education, living environment or country on the levels of knowledge about dietary fibre (KADF), its sources and its effects on human health, using a validated scale. STUDY DESIGN The present study was a cross-sectional study. METHODS A methodological study was conducted with 6010 participants, residing in 10 countries from different continents (Europe, America, Africa). The instrument was a questionnaire of self-response, aimed at collecting information on knowledge about food fibres. The instrument was used to validate a scale (KADF) which model was used in the present work to identify the best predictors of knowledge. The statistical tools used were as follows: basic descriptive statistics, decision trees, inferential analysis (t-test for independent samples with Levene test and one-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons post hoc tests). RESULTS The results showed that the best predictor for the three types of knowledge evaluated (about DF, about its sources and about its effects on human health) was always the country, meaning that the social, cultural and/or political conditions greatly determine the level of knowledge. On the other hand, the tests also showed that statistically significant differences were encountered regarding the three types of knowledge for all sociodemographic variables evaluated: age, gender, level of education, living environment and country. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that to improve the level of knowledge the actions planned should not be delineated in general as to reach all sectors of the populations, and that in addressing different people, different methodologies must be designed so as to provide an effective health education.

Attitudes Towards Dietary Fibre on a Multicultural Basis: A Fibre Study Framework

Background: Dietary fibre (DF) has been recognised as having many positive health effects. Hence, the objective of this research was to evaluate the consuming habits relating to DF on people from different countries, as well as their knowledge about the fibre rich foods and their attitudes towards food labelling. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken on a non-probabilistic sample of 6010 participants from 10 countries. Descriptive statistics and inferential tests were done using SPSS software considering a level of significance of 5%. Results: The results suggested that the ingestion of fibre rich foods like fruit, vegetables and cereals, was low and far from the recommended amounts. It was also concluded that most people did not pay the desired level of attention to food labelling and nutritional information. Furthermore, the level of knowledge about dietary fibre was generally not satisfactory. Conclusion: In view of these findings it becomes important to develop actions to better inform the population and to make them better aware of the importance of dietary fibre in their habitual diet.

Total Content of Phenolics and Antioxidant Activity in Crispbreads with Plant By-product addition

Abstract Vegetable processing in food industry results in significant amount of by-products – peel, mark, bark, seeds still rich in bioactive compounds. Apple, carrot and pumpkin peel and mark may be used for production of crispbreads as functional ingredients. The objective of this study is to investigate the stability of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity after high temperature and short time (HTST) extrusion cooking of a wheat and rice-based crispbreads with addition of apple, carrot and pumpkin by-products obtained after juice extraxtion and dried. Raw materials for crispbread production were wheat flour, rice flour, wheat bran (72%, 24% and 4% respectively) with addition of microwave–vacuum dried by-product powder in different amount (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%). Extrusion process was performed by using a laboratory singlescrew extruder GÖTTFERT 1 screw Extrusiometer L series (Germany). Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using the Folin Ciocalteu method. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by free radical 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) antioxidant scavenging activity using a modified colorimetric method. Comparing different raw formulations, it was observed that the TPC of the apple by-product flour was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in carrot and pumpkin flour. TPC in cereal-based crispbread was 36.06±1.15 before extrusion and 13.90±1.01 mg GAEg-1 DW (milligram Gallic acid equivalent per 100 g of dry weight (mg GAE 100 g−1 DW) after extrusion. Addition of apple BPF increased TPC in crispbreads to 106.25±2.08, carrot BPF 84.73±3.45 and pumpkin BPF to 108.82±1.04 mg GAEg−1 DW. Antioxidant activity of control sample was 1.07±0.01mg TE (Trolox equivalents) g−1 DW but in samples with addition of 20% apple by-products, it reached 3.77±0.02 TE g−1 DW for samples wih 20% carrot by-products reached 2.52±0.03TE g−1 DW and for samples wih 20% pumpkin by-products reached 3.77±0.02 TE g−1 DW.