A pectic polysaccharide from peach palm fruits (Bactris gasipaes) and its fermentation profile by the human gut microbiota in vitro

Publication date: Available online 15 November 2016 Source:Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre Author(s): Thaisa Moro Cantu-Jungles, Thales R. Cipriani, Marcello Iacomini, Bruce R. Hamaker, Lucimara M.C. Cordeiro Depending on their chemical structure, pectic polymers may be fermented by different bacteria in the human gut and, therefore, display a different metabolite profile. We aimed to investigate the chemical structure of pectins from peach palm fruits and to evaluate their in vitro fecal fermentation profiles. A fraction (PW-AP) containing a linear highly methyl esterified homogalacturonan (degree of esterification of 70%) with minor portions of xylogalacturonan and type I rhamnogalacturonan was submitted to fermentation by the human gut microbiota. It produced significantly less gas than fructooligosaccharides (FOS) at all evaluated time points, and in 24hours presented a cumulative gas production ~27% lower than FOS. Drops in pH could be observed during fermentation of both FOS and PW-AP. Moreover, the pectin was slower fermented than FOS, though with a similar production of total short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and a lower production of branched chain fatty acids. The amounts of specific SCFA differed from that of FOS, with higher production of acetate (16.2%) and propionate (6.2%) and lower production butyrate (112%). The ratio of total SCFA production to gas production was 4.0mL/µmol and 5.5mL/µmol for FOS and PW-AP, respectively, indicating that the l...
Source: Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre - Category: Food Science Source Type: research