TITLE:
Fermentation Patterns of Various Pectin Sources by Human Fecal Microbiota
AUTHORS:
Byungjick Min, Ok Kyung Koo, Si Hong Park, Nathan Jarvis, Steven C. Ricke, Philip G. Crandall, Sun-Ok Lee
KEYWORDS:
Short-Chain Fatty Acids, Soy Pectin, Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.6 No.12,
September
9,
2015
ABSTRACT: High Methoxy Pectin (HMP), Sugar Beet Pectin (SBP), Soy Pectin (SOY), and Fructooligosaccharide (FOS, as a positive control) were used to determine fermentation properties considering applicabil-ity as functional foods, particularly related to colon health. Certain beneficial effects of carbohy-drates in humans can be postulated as being due to microorganisms and metabolites (short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)). Fecal samples were collected and incubated anaerobically with HMP, SBP, SOY, and FOS at 37 °C. The average degree of polymerization (DP) of HMP, SBP, and SOY was 492, 3729, and 1510, respectively. Degree of pectin methylation of each sample was 76.0% (HMP), 21.2% (SBP), and 22.8% (SOY). Total SCFAs in SOY showed the highest value compared to other samples, especially having the highest concentration of propionic acid (P