Dietary fiber content of 21 Kuwaiti composite dishes

Dietary fiber analyses were carried out on 21 commonly consumed Kuwaiti composite dishes. The dietary fiber content was determined by an enzymatic-gravimetric method for the determination of soluble (SDF), insoluble (IDF) and total (TDF) dietary fiber. The IDF was the major dietary fiber fraction in all the dishes. The average content of IDF in the 21 dishes was 3.7 g/100 g fresh weight compared with 1.00 g/100 g for the SDF fraction. The mean content of TDF was highest in the sweet dishes (4.2 ± 1.3722 g; n = 10), particularly those containing dates, followed by the cereal-based dishes (3.9 ± 1.9523 g; n = 10) containing whole grain wheat hour. The meat- (3.46 ± 1.3722 g; n = 14) and chicken-based (2.7 ± 0.1331 g; n = 4) dishes contained moderate levels of TDF, with the vegetables (3.87 g; n = 2) in the recipes contributing most of the TDF in these dishes. However, since most of the dishes contained 2-4 g dietary fiber per 100 g fresh weight, and more than 100 g is consumed in a serving (average 300-400 g), then these dishes can generally be considered as good sources of dietary fiber.