Modulation of the human gut microbiota by corn arabinoxylans
J Funct Foods, 2026
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A native, high-molecular-weight soluble arabinoxylan upcycled from corn bran. Its structure is the mechanism, the length of the xylose backbone, the pattern of arabinose branching and the ferulic acid bound to it explain how it ferments, how it behaves in a formulation, and why it contributes almost no digestible sugar.
01, Molecular architecture
Arabinoxylan is built from a β-1,4-linked D-xylose backbone with L-arabinose units branching off through α-1,2 and α-1,3 bonds. Ferulic acid is esterified to those branches. Every functional and physiological property of FibAX® Corn Fiber traces back to one of these three features. Select a part of the molecule to see what it does.
Click any part of the molecule
02, Comparison
Resistant maltodextrin fibers, the most widely used soluble corn fibers in food and beverage, are glucose-based and short, assembled from α-glucosidic linkages at 2 to 5 kDa. Corn arabinoxylan is a pentose polymer roughly forty to a hundred times longer. That difference drives fermentation rate, sugar release and calorie load. Figures below come from a single published overview of commercial corn-derived soluble fibers.
Source: Boukid, F. (2023). Corn (Zea mays L.) arabinoxylan to expand the portfolio of dietary fibers. Food Bioscience 56, 103181, Table 1, an overview of commercial corn-derived soluble fibers. Read these numbers with three caveats. Values are as reported for each product and were not generated under a common protocol. Comparators are shown as ingredient categories, not named products: three are resistant maltodextrins, and a second commercial corn arabinoxylan is included because it reports a higher molecular weight and fiber content than the ClonBio material in the same table. And the ClonBio figures describe 2023 material at 75% purity, the current FibAX® Corn Fiber specification is >85% total dietary fiber.
03, Fermentation
FibAX® Corn Fiber is not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract. It arrives in the colon intact, where its branched structure makes it a selective substrate, fermented slowly and steadily rather than consumed in a rush. That slowness is the reason for both the tolerability and the sustained short-chain fatty acid output.
04, For the formulator
Neutral taste, off-white powder, labelled as corn soluble fiber. Naturally gluten-free, non-GMO and stable across the pH and temperature ranges used in normal food processing.
| Nutrition | per 100 g, as is |
|---|---|
| Total dietary fiber | 95.1 g |
| of which soluble | 94.4 g |
| of which insoluble | 0.7 g |
| Protein | 3.04 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1.70 g |
| of which sugars | 0.67 g |
| Fat | 0.71 g |
| of which saturates | 0.1 g |
| Salt | 0.3 g |
| Energy | 211 kcal / 883 kJ |
Typical values. Guaranteed: dry matter min 92%; total dietary fiber min 90% of dry matter, of which 95% arabinoxylan.
| Structural | Value |
|---|---|
| Molecular weight | ~200 kDa |
| Arabinose : xylose ratio† | 0.60 |
| Viscosity at 2.5% | ~10 mPa·s |
† A/X ratio as published for ClonBio material in Boukid (2023).
Corn arabinoxylan carries bound protein and lipid. At an oil–water interface the protein adsorbs while the polysaccharide disperses into the water phase, forming a film that provides steric stabilisation. High-molecular-weight fractions emulsify better than low, branching and chain length are again the mechanism.
Applications and functionality as published by ClonBio Foods. FibAX® Corn Arabinoxylan is naturally gluten-free.
J Funct Foods, 2026
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Eur J Nutr, 2026
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J Sci Food Agric, 2025
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Food Biosci, 2023
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