Influence of dietary fiber on in-vitro lipid digestion of emulsions prepared with high-intensity ultrasound

In terms of disease prevention, nutrition is becoming an increasingly important aspect. Therefore, emulsions as an innovative food product containing health-promoting plant fiber and canola oil prepared with high-intensity ultrasound were investigated. They were analysed regarding their physicochemical properties and their influence on in-vitro digestion. Ultrasound led to a reduction in oil droplet size and a modification of plant fiber, which influenced their techno-functional properties and improved emulsion stability due to higher viscosities. It turned out that fibers with high amounts of soluble dietary fiber were able to stabilize the emulsions during in-vitro digestion until they entered the intestinal phase, forming a micelle-like network. The digestibility could be increased by about 5%. The usage of plant fibers in emulsions can help to increase the daily uptake of dietary fiber and at the same time counteract absorption deficiencies due to better fat digestibility. •Ultrasound is an effective emulsifying method and resulted in small droplet sizes•Ultrasound modified techno-functional properties of dietary fiber•Plant fiber containing high amounts of soluble dietary fiber led to faster initial in-vitro fat digestion•Citrus fiber addition caused a slight increase of around 5 % in total free fatty acids released