Wheat bran as potential source of dietary fiber: Prospects and challenges

Over the past decades, adding dietary fibers (DF) to the human diet has gained interest due to their evident health effects. It led to more extensive studies for finding their purpose and exploring the utilization of some specific agro-processing wastes as their sustainable sources. Wheat bran (WB) is one of the popular sources available in huge quantity, generated during the wheat milling process as a co-product. It contains a good proportion of healthy DF, as claimed, and so several researchers are working to explore its potential as a prospective food ingredient. However, despite being a rich source of DF, its food applications are limited owing to poor textural and functional properties. Lower bioavailability, instability, and losses of available nutrients and bioactives during different processing conditions are severe points of concern. However, there are some technical developments to limit these negative effects and increase the usability of WB as an important ingredient in different food products. This review explores and highlights the dietary role of fiber, opportunities and challenges in valorizing WB as a sustainable DF source, health benefits, including gut health, and their food applications. Moreover, physical, chemical, and biological modifications, including novel treatments, have been critically discussed. The future scope for developing functional food products based on modified WB-DF using current technologies and processes has been compiled in this review.