Dietary fiber refers to components in plants that are partly digestible or completely indigestible in the colon. The dietary fiber components that are partly digestible in the colon include pectin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Lignin is not digestible at all by the bacterial enzymes in the colon. Lignin also lowers the digestibility of the other fiber components.
Grains, legumes, and nuts are excellent sources of dietary fiber. The following list provides the fiber content of common grains, legumes and nuts.
| Dietary fiber sources | Fiber content (g/100 g edible food portion) |
|---|---|
| Wheat germ, crude | 13.20 |
| Goji berries, dried | 13.00 |
| Wheat, soft white | 12.70 |
| Nuts, almond | 12.50 |
| Bulgur, dry | 12.50 |
| Tomatoes, sun dried | 12.30 |
| Wheat flour, whole-grain | 12.17 |
| Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, raw | 12.20 |
| Seeds, sesame seeds, whole, dried | 11.80 |
| Mushrooms, shiitake, dried | 11.50 |
| Lentils, pink or red | 10.80 |
| Chickpea flour (besan) | 10.80 |
| Nuts, pine nuts, pinyon, dried | 10.70 |
| Cowpeas, catjang, mature seeds | 10.70 |
| Wheat flour, whole-grain | 10.70 |
| Nuts, pistachio nuts | 10.60 |
| Buckwheat flour, whole-groat | 10.00 |
| Nuts, hazelnuts or filberts | 9.70 |
| Nuts, pecans | 9.60 |
| Soy flour, full-fat | 9.60 |
| Peanuts, spanish | 9.50 |
| Cereals, QUAKER, Quick Oats, Dry | 9.40 |
| Soybeans, mature seeds | 9.30 |
| Nuts, coconut meat | 9.00 |
| Peanuts, valencia | 8.70 |
| Nuts, macadamia nuts | 8.60 |
| Miller | 8.50 |
| Teff, uncooked | 8.00 |
| Wasabi, root | 7.80 |
| Cornmeal, degermed, enriched, yellow | 7.39 |
| Corn flour, whole-grain, yellow or white | 7.30 |
| Cornmeal, whole-grain, yellow or white | 7.30 |
| Tofu, dried-frozen (koyadofu) | 7.20 |
| Barlye malt, flour | 7.10 |
| Quinoa, uncooked | 7.00 |
| Amaranth grain, uncooked | 6.70 |
| Sorghum grain | 6.70 |
| Nuts, walnuts, black, dried | 6.80 |
| Nuts, walnuts, english | 6.70 |
| Nuts, hickorynuts, dried | 6.40 |
| Wild rice | 6.20 |
| Couscous, dry | 5.03 |
More on Dietary Fiber
Depending on the composition of the fiber in the food, that is the proportion of pectin, hemicellulose, cellulose or lignin, the nutritional value and physiological effect of dietary fiber foods can vary.
Vegetables harvested at younger growth stage are likely to contain higher pectin and hemicellulose (soluble fibers) and less cellulose and lignin (insoluble fibers) than when harvested at later growth stages. Generally, the concentration of the insoluble fiber components increases with maturity of the vegetable or fruit, where as the reverse is true to the soluble fiber components. Overall, the later the maturity of the vegetable or fruit at harvest time, the higher is the total fiber content.
High fiber foods generally contain low or zero contents of fat, especially saturated fatty acids and cholesterol.
For health benefits of consuming high fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables and cereals, read: Dietaty fiber food and health.
Dietary fiber related links:
Total dietary fiber, soluble fiber, insoluble fiber content of foods
Definitions of dietary fiber food.
List of low fiber foods
Dietary fiber: Recommended Daily Reference Intakes (DRIs, RDAs) for fiber