Dietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food derived from plants. It has two main components: 1  Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and can be prebiotic and viscous.ietary fiber or roughage is the indigestible portion of food derived from plants. It has two main components: 1  Soluble fiber, which dissolves in water, is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and can be prebiotic and viscous.
The Portuguese were the first to engage in the New World slave trade in the 16th century. Between 1418 and the 1470s, the Portuguese launched a series of exploratory expeditions that remapped the oceans south of Portugal, charting new territories that one explorer described as oceans where none have ever sailed before.
The first vessel carrying slaves that sailed directly between Africa and the Americas appears to have arrived in Puerto Rico in 1519 (Eltis et al). The African slave trade in the hands of the Portuguese, was more than fifty years old when the 16th century began. The Portuguese were to hold a monopoly on the trade until the century ended.