Insoluble dietary fiber is a macromolecular polysaccharide aggregate composed of pectin, glycoproteins, lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. All agricultural by-products contain significant levels of insoluble dietary fiber. With the recognition of the increasing scarcity of non-renewable energy sources, the conversion of single components of dietary fiber into renewable energy sources and their use has become an ongoing concern. The isolation and extraction of single fractions from insoluble dietary fiber is one of the most important recent research directions. The continuous development of technologies for the separation and extraction of single components is aimed at expanding the use of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin for food, industrial, cosmetic, biomedical, and other applications. Here, to expand the use of single components to meet the new needs of future development, separation and extraction methods for single components are summarized, in addition to the prospects of new raw materials in the future.

Soybean dregs, one of the main byproducts of traditional soybean processing, are rich in insoluble dietary fiber (IDF), which possesses high mechanical strength and thermal stability. After surface reconstruction treatment, they have the potential to serve as a Pickering emulsion stabilizer, as these properties enable the particles to maintain their structural integrity at the oil–water interface. In this research, high-purity soybean dreg insoluble dietary fibers (HPSIDFs) were modified by alkaline H₂O₂, with oleic acid (OA) modified in a green synergistic modification. The surface of HPSIDF was etched to increase the reaction sites for subsequent hydrophobic modification, which enhanced the emulsification properties. Finally, the performance of the particles in Pickering emulsions and the emulsification mechanism were analyzed. The absolute value of the ζ-potential of the hydrophobically modified high-purity soybean dreg insoluble dietary fiber (O-HPSIDF) increased from 15.87 mV to 37.27 mV. The stability of the Pickering emulsion stabilized by O-HPSIDF was greatly enhanced; the droplet size of the emulsion decreased; the distribution was more uniform. The emulsifier particles formed a network structure at the interface, which imparted considerable mechanical strength to the emulsion, as evidenced by the increased storage modulus and viscosity.

Soybean dregs are one of the main by-products during the processing of traditional soybean products, which are rich in insoluble dietary fiber. Insoluble dietary fiber has high mechanical strength and stability. After a certain treatment, it can have the po-tential to stabilize Pickering emulsions. In this research, high-purity soybean dregs insoluble dietary fibers (HPSIDF) were modified by alkaline H₂O₂, with oleic acid (OA) modified in a green synergistic modification. The surface of HPSIDF was etched to in-crease the reaction sites for hydrophobic modification. The hydrophobic modification was then used to enhance the emulsification properties, and finally, the performance of the particles in Pickering emulsions and the emulsification mechanism were analyzed. The absolute value of the ζ-potential of the hydrophobically modified high-purity soybean dregs insoluble dietary fiber (O-HPSIDF) increased from 15.87 mV to 37.27 mV. The stability of the Pickering emulsion stabilized by O-HPSIDF was greatly en-hanced, the droplet size of the emulsion decreased, the distribution was more uniform, and the emulsifier particles were able to form a network structure at the interface, which formed a certain mechanical strength for the emulsion.