Treatment with hydrogen peroxide improves the physicochemical properties of dietary fibres from Chinese yam peel

Summary Yam is a common ‘medicine food homology’ vegetable in Asia, and its peel is often considered a food residue during processing or cooking. In this work, the effects of hydrogen peroxide modification on the dietary fibres ( DF s) from Chinese yam peel ( CYP ) were investigated. The structural characteristics of soluble dietary fibre ( SDF ), insoluble dietary fibre ( IDF ), modified soluble dietary fibre ( MSDF ) and modified insoluble dietary fibre ( MIDF ) were analysed using Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, granularity analysis, scanning electron microscopy and GC ‐ MS (monosaccharide composition). As results, after modification with hydrogen peroxide, the sizes of the DF s were reduced and MIDF exposed more cellulose. Experiments on the physicochemical and functional properties of DF s showed that MSDF and MIDF obtained a better water holding capacity, oil absorption capacity, swelling capacity and absorption abilities with altered structures, which is of great importance in food processing and development.