Abstract
The effect of dietary fiber prepared from raw and fried carrot on the availability of minerals was examined in rats. Dietary fibers were prepared from raw and fried carrot by dehydrating with acetone and defatting with ether. The dietary fibers prepared contained 25-27% NDF on dry bases. Young rats were fed one of the diets containing dietary fiber from raw or fried carrot, or a cellulose-control diet for 2 weeks. Ca and Mg in the diets, feces and urine collected for the last 3 days of the feeding period, were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Wet weight of feces in the raw dietary fiber diet group was about two times that of other groups. Also, the length of the large intestine was significantly increased by the raw dietary fiber diet. The absorption of Ca and Mg in the raw dietary fiber diet group (22-30%) was significantly lower than that of other groups (40-50%). These results suggest that the quality of carrot dietary fiber is changed by frying, and the physiological effect of fried carrot dietary fiber is different from that of raw carrot dietary fiber.
