Plant fibers, effect

Ershoff, B.H. Antitoxic effects of plant fiber. Am J Clin Nutri, 1974 27 1395-1398... 

A metabolic product of fiber fermentation, propionate may mediate some of the hypocholesterolemic effects of certain soluble plant fibers. In cholesterol-fed rats, propionate decreases serum cholesterol and liver triglyceride level where no changes in hepatic histology in response to propionate intake have been detected (Wang and Ng, 1999). 

EFFECTS OF PLANT FIBER SUPPLEMENTS ON SERUM CHOLESTEROL CONCENTRATIONS OF RATS. ... 

Hypocholesterolemlc Effects of Plant Fibers-Human Studies. Most of the purified fibers and fiber-rich foods that have been tested In animals also have been used for human studies (Table II) These human studies yield similar conclusions. 

Other Effects. We carefully monitored these Inpatients dally for side effects related to the Increase In total plant fiber Intake from an average of 20 to 50 grams/day. Only two patients reported gastrointestinal side effects with bean diets. Both noted abdominal distention and discomfort during the first ten days on the bean diet. These side effects were tolerable and neither patients requested that we modify ox discontinue the bean diets the diet was well tolerated by one patient during the last week of observation and was reasonably well tolerated by the other patient during the last week. With direct questioning we learned that all patients has more gas production with the bean diet. They had more flatulence and... 

Anderson, J.W. Chen, W.L. Plant fiber Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 32 346, 1979. Ershoff, B.H. Wells, A.F. Effect of methoxyl content on anticholesterol activity of pectin substances In the rat. Exptl. Med. Surg. 20 272, 1962. 

Chen, W-J.L. Anderson, J.W. Effects of plant fiber In decreasing plasma total cholesterol and Increasing hlgh-denslty lipoprotein cholesterol. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med.. 162 310, 1979. 

Nakagaito, AJSl., Yano, H. The effect of morphological changes from pulp fiber towards nano-scale fibrillated cellulose on the mechanical noperties of high-strength plant fiber based composites. Appl. Phys. A. 78, 547-552 (2004)... 

Mishra S, Naik JB, Patil YP (2000) The compatibilising effect of maleic anhydride on swelling and mechanical properties of plant-fiber-reinforced novolac composites. Compos Sci Technol 60(9) 1729-1735... 

Natural fibers are preferred to synthetic fiber in composites because of the many benefits of the latter it requires less energy for fiber processing, it is a nonhazardous, replenishable resource, is biodegradable, and has low density and high specific strength, and is cost effective. As plant fibers are hydrophilic, the adhesion between the fibers and hydrophobic polymer matrices is not adequate. To achieve sufficient interfacial bonding, either surface modification of the fiber or plasticization of the fibers is required [18, 58, 59, 96],... 

Another effect of this practice would be reducing the environmental impact of transportation of plant fibers, as the number of plant fibers utilized will be increased and byproducts of local agricultural economies might be brought into use [14,15]. 

Ihe mechanical performance of plant fibers is affected negatively from higher tem-perattues in the presence of oxygen. This should also be taken into account in designing the manufactiuing and the use of biocomposites. However, the matrix which surrounds fibers may shield the plant fibers from the adverse effects to some extent [60]. 

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