Dietary fiber has important physiological functions, and its effects vary with sources and extraction methods. However, research on pollen-derived fiber is still limited. In our study, three extraction methods—enzymatic extraction, ultrasonic-assisted enzymatic extraction, and microwave-assisted enzymatic extraction—were employed to obtain dietary fiber from rape bee pollen. The resulting total dietary fiber (TDF), namely enzyme-extracted dietary fiber (EDF), ultrasound-assisted enzyme-extracted dietary fiber (UDF), and microwave-assisted enzyme-extracted dietary fiber (MDF), were systematically compared in terms of their structural, physicochemical, and functional properties. The results revealed a clear trade-off: enzymatic extraction produced the highest TDF yield (48.9%), followed by UDF (42.3%) and MDF (39.7%), whereas the physical-enzymatic methods yielded fibers (UDF and MDF) with superior functional properties. MDF contained a higher arabinose content (36.64%) than EDF (30.76%) and UDF (31.98%). Compared with EDF, both UDF and MDF exhibited looser, more porous structures. Consequently, MDF showed the highest oil-holding capacity (5.20 g/g) and glucose adsorption capacity (5.72 mmol/g at a glucose concentration of 100 mmol/L), UDF exhibited enhanced water-holding capacity (3.05 g/g), and the strongest DPPH radical scavenging capacity. In conclusion, physical field-assisted enzymatic extraction—especially microwave-assisted enzymatic extraction—effectively modulates the structure of pollen dietary fiber and enhances its functional properties. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the efficient preparation and utilization of rape bee pollen dietary fiber, highlighting its potential as a functional ingredient in food products. • Enzymatic extraction achieves the highest dietary fiber yield, whereas physical-assisted methods produce fibers with superior functional properties. • Extraction methods affected monosaccharide composition, structural and functional properties of TDF. • MDF displayed excellent water and oil holding capacity, and glucose adsorption capacity. • UDF exhibited highest water holding capacity and excellent DPPH radical scavenging activity.
xu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.