Abstract
The effect of a daily oral intake of L-sorbose during 14 days on human fecal flora and pH value, and the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from L-sorbose by intestinal microorganisms using the fecal suspension incubation were determined. The results in the present study were as follows: (1) No marked changes of fecal flora of six volunteers could be observed.(2) No marked changes were observed on the fecal pH value.(3) The amount of the SCFAs in the L-sorbose supplementation was 8 %, and was significantly lower compared with 46 % in the sucrose supplementation (SUS).(4) No sucrose was detected in SUS after the incubation, and the residual amount of L-sorbose before and after the continuous oral intake was 76 % and 58 %, respectively. These findings indicate that a daily oral intake of L-sorbose does not change the human fecal flora at the bacterial species levels and that L-sorbose is less fermentable by fecal microorganisms compared with sucrose.
