DEVELOP HIGHLY FERMENTABLE INSOLUBLE DIETARY FIBERS FOR A HEALTHY GUT MICROBIOME

The overall goal of this project is to: 1) unveil the interrelationship between the structural properties of IDFs and their fermentation properties, and 2) develop an effective and economical process to produce highly fermentable IDFs and promote a healthy gut microbiome. The objectives include:1. Create more than 100 IDFs with controllable and diverse chemical composition, microstructure, and surface chemistry using a chemical-assisted subcritical water process.2. Determine the relationship between the physicochemical properties of IDFs and their fermentability and ability to modulate the gut microbiota composition/metabolites.3. Conduct a techno-economic analysisto determine the economic feasibility of IDF production from agricultural processing byproducts.