Fiber. Peeling back layers of complexity to improve animal health

Citation

Edwards MS. 2019. Fiber. Peeling back layers of complexity to improve animal health. In Brooks M, Freel T, Koutsos E Eds. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition Foundation and AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Saint Louis, MO.

Abstract

Compared with other food constituents, fiber influences among the most diverse physiological functions, yet represents the most challenging to describe and quantify (Fahey, 2017). Fiber has been defined as a biological unit in relation to its role in plants. Fiber has been characterized analytically based on chemically recovered fractions. More recently, definitions related to fiber’s physiological role in some animal species have been proposed. In fact, fiber for human diets was not formally defined until 27 May 2016 (FDA, 2016).

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