Functions of Oat Fiber

Add Total Dietary Fiber

Adding a fiber claim to a label is becoming increasingly important to food manufacturers since its many health benefits – including gut health and bulking – are becoming more widely known.

• Oat fiber is a cost-effective, clean, low-calorie ingredient that boosts dietary fiber content in a natural way.
• Oat fiber can maintain texture and flavor without a "chalky" sensation.
• Oat fiber can offer similar benefits as cellulose and other insoluble dietary fibers.

Water absorption and retention

There are numerous ingredients that can do one or the other, but few can do both. Oat fiber has relatively high water absorption and controls water activity within certain food systems.

• Oat fiber can be a great alternative to substitute cellulose and other chemically modified fibers when developing "pantry friendly" ingredient labeling.
• Oat fiber and certain modified starches may work in synergy while reducing caloric value.

Texture Modification / Viscosity Modification

• Adding oat fiber to baked goods, e.g. muffins, can improve texture by reducing the rate of moisture loss, and thereby crumbling of the muffin.
• Oat fiber may act as a thickening agent in batters that are too thin.
• Oat fiber can help formulate with hydrocolloids and starches to achieve targeted caloric values.

Maintain Crispiness & Reduce Breakage in Low-Moisture Food Systems

• At a microscopic level, oat fiber is composed of long fiber strands, which act as reinforcement to cereal and legume starches in applications such as tortilla chips, crackers, RTE cereals, and other baked goods. This results in added crunchiness without breakage post-baking and/or frying and/or during packaging or handling.
• As starch dehydrates after chemically leavened or fermented, blisters are created (think saltine crackers). In turn, oat fiber complexes with the starch, creating a matrix and thereby provides added crispiness, minimizing breakage/friability of fresh, crispy blistering.

Extend Shelf-Life

• Oat fiber releases water at a slower rate than starches; thus less water is reaching the surface, to thereby control and reduce water activity of baked goods. As a result, a bread or baked good stales at a lower rate without supporting mold growth.

Anti-Caking Agent

• As a result of its composition and morphology, oat fiber is a natural alternative to chemical anti-caking agents such as silicon dioxide and tricalcium phosphate.
• This sequesters free water and reduces compaction of hydroscopic blends, including but not limited to powdered or crystallized organic acids and/or oleoresin-containing injectable brines for meat and poultry, spices, breaders and batters, and more.