At the brazilian starch industries the production process of sour or fermented cassava starch generates a high quantity of a by-product denominated residual cassava fibrous waste or bagasse. Normally such material is discarded with deleterious effects to the environment or it is utilized, in low quantity, as a component of animal feed. It was prepared in laboratory, from the bagasse, a cassava flour which presented higher insoluble dietary fiber (43.1%) and lower starch (47.1%), compared to cassava flours obtained from the market place. The proportions of protein, lipid and ash of the high-fiber flour were similar to commercial flours. In addition, defecation frequency, wet (fresh) and dry fecal weight and fecal bulking in rats fed high-fiber flour increased, but It did not interfere in the food efficiency ratio and on the protein efficiency ratio (PER op) values. A reduction of the body weight gain, as a result of a decrease in food ingestion, was observed for the treatments containing the high fiber cassava flour. Such results indicate that the high-fiber cassava flour presents nutritional and gastrointestinal properties which allows it to be used as an adequate source of dietary fiber for human nutrition. The cassava fibrous waste may be used as high-fiber cassava flour containing high proportion of insoluble fiber, a distinct feature from the regular commercial flour.
high-fiber flour; cassava; nutrition; dietary fiber; composition
