Prebiotic effects and intestinal fermentation of cereal arabinoxylans and arabinoxylan oligosaccharides in rats depend strongly on their structural properties and joint presence
✍ Scribed by Bram Damen; Joran Verspreet; Annick Pollet; Willem F. Broekaert; Jan A. Delcour; Christophe M. Courtin
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 296 KB
- Volume
- 55
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1613-4125
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Scope: Cereal arabinoxylan (AX) is one of the main dietary fibers in a balanced human diet. To gain insight into the importance of structural features of AX for their prebiotic potential and intestinal fermentation properties, a rat trial was performed.
Methods and results: A water unextractable AX‐rich preparation (WU‐AX, 40% purity), water extractable AX (WE‐AX, 81% purity), AX oligosaccharides (AXOS, 79% purity) and combinations thereof were included in a standardized diet at a 5% AX level. WU‐AX was only partially fermented in the ceco‐colon and increased the level of butyrate and of butyrate producing Roseburia/E. rectale spp. Extensive fermentation of WE‐AX and/or AXOS reduced the pH, suppressed relevant markers of the proteolytic breakdown and induced a selective bifidogenic response. Compared with WE‐AX, AXOS showed a slightly less pronounced effect in the colon as its fermentation was virtually complete in the cecum. Combining WU‐AX and AXOS caused a striking synergistic increase in cecal butyrate levels. WU‐AX, WE‐AX and AXOS together combined a selective bifidogenic effect in the colon with elevated butyrate levels, a reduced pH and suppressed proteolytic metabolites.
Conclusion: The prebiotic potential and fermentation characteristics of cereal AX depend strongly on their structural properties and joint presence.