Suppression of Psyllium Husk Suspension Viscosity by Addition of Water Soluble Polysaccharides.

Psyllium seed husk is an insoluble dietary fiber with many health benefits. It can absorb many times its weight in water, forming very viscous suspensions, which have low palatability and consumer acceptance. We report here a novel approach for decreasing its viscosity, involving inclusion of a soluble polysaccharide in the suspension. This leads to a drastic decrease (up to 87%) in viscosity of suspensions, while maintaining the same dosage level of psyllium and also delivering a significant amount of soluble dietary fiber such as corn bio-fiber gum in a single serving. Four soluble polysaccharides with a range of molecular weights and solution viscosities have been studied for their viscosity suppression effect. Besides improving palatability, another advantage of this approach is that it makes it possible to deliver 2 different dietary fibers in significant quantities, thus offering even greater health benefits.