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FCDBs provide information on food components that are relevant for the nutritional value of a food. For this reason FCDBs not only include values for individual carbohydrates but also values for nutritional relevant fractions of carbohydrates such as available carbohydrates and fibre. These fractions reflect nutritional properties, but do consist of carbohydrates with a variety of chemical properties.

This part of the case focuses on the methods for carbohydrate analysis:

1) Methods for carbohydrates analysis (either by difference calculations or by direct analysis)

In addition to carbohydrate analysis, this part gives attention to the measurement of starch and specific free sugars, because these analyses are part of carbohydrate analysis.

2) Methods for fibre analysis

In addition to fibre analysis, special attention is given to the ongoing debate on the definition of fibre, because of the nutritional relevance of fibre.

Methods for the analysis of sugar alcohols, waxes, gums, mucilages, algal polysaccharides etc will not be covered in this case. To learn more about analysis of these components, please consults handbooks on carbohydrate analysis such as:

- D.A.T Southgate. Determination of food carbohydrates. Second edition, Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1991.