Sugarcane Fibre as Dietary Supplement, Health Benefits and Applications in Functional Foods

Sugarcane is one of the most important sources of fibre worldwide. Sugarcane bagasse, which is a major by-product of sugar industry, is an excellent raw material for dietary fibre. Bagasse flour can be introduced along with wheat and other routinely used grain flours, to prepare a variety of food products. An array of bakery products enriched with cane fibre is being tested for human consumption. In this context, the present manuscript made a sincere attempt to cover recent developments in the area of dietary fibre with special reference to sugarcane bagasse. Here, we discussed the basics of dietary fibre and classification of dietary fibres and health benefits. More importantly, we have covered the latest developments in sugarcane as potential source of dietary fibre, its physicochemical characteristics, methods for extraction of dietary fibre from sugarcane bagasse and applications of sugarcane-based dietary fibre in food and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, this chapter would help the readers to enrich their knowledge on recent technological developments in the area of dietary fibre research. This would encourage to take up new avenues of business and entrepreneurship and ultimately the beneficiaries’ rural youth, women, small-scale entrepreneurs, food products manufacturers and food industries.