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. 2018 Jun 16;8(1):98.
doi: 10.1186/s13568-018-0629-9.

The influence of in vitro pectin fermentation on the human fecal microbiome

So-Jung Bang  1 , Gayoung Kim  1 , Mi Young Lim  2 , Eun-Ji Song  2   3 , Dong-Hyun Jung  1 , Jun-Seok Kum  4 , Young-Do Nam  2   3 , Cheon-Seok Park  5 , Dong-Ho Seo  6
Affiliations

The influence of in vitro pectin fermentation on the human fecal microbiome

So-Jung Bang et al. AMB Express. .

Abstract

Pectin is a complex dietary fiber and a prebiotic. To investigate pectin-induced changes in the gut microbiome and their effects on the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production, we performed in vitro pectin fermentation using the feces of three Korean donors. The pectin degradations in all three donors were observed. While the donors displayed differences in baseline gut microbiota composition, commonly increased bacteria after pectin fermentation included Lachnospira, Dorea, Clostridium, and Sutterella. Regarding SCFAs, acetate levels rapidly increased with incubation with pectin, and butyrate levels also increased after 6 h of incubation. The results suggest that pectin fermentation increases bacterial species belonging to Clostridium cluster XIV (Lachnospira, Dorea, and Clostridium), with Lachnospira displaying the greatest increase. The results also confirm that pectin fermentation leads to the production of acetate and butyrate.

Keywords: Fecal microbiota; Fermentation; Pectin; Prebiotic; Short chain fatty acids.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Total carbohydrates (a), reducing sugars (b), and decomposed pectin products (c) in each donor at various incubation times were analyzed by TLC
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Baseline fecal microbial compositions of each donor, including the relative abundance of phyla (a) and the 20 most abundant genera (b)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
PCoA based on Bray–Curtis distances of fecal samples incubated with pectin for various incubation times
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Significantly changed taxa according to pectin incubation time (q value < 0.1)
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Average SCFA concentrations at various pectin incubation times
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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