Abstract
Using seven healthy volunteers, the effects of feeding isomaltulose-based oligomers (IBO) on the composition of feces, such as pH, contents of organic acids, putrefaction products (phenol, indol, skatol andp-creso1) and ammonia, activities ofβ-glucosidase andβ-glucuronidase and microflora pattern were investigated. The experiment was performed during 2 successive periods of 1O days each. The first period was the pre-test period, and the next was the test period. Twenty grams of IBO was administered daily to volunteers during the test period. The diet patterns of volunteers in the pre-test period were repeated during the test period. Freshly voided fecal samples were collected from all the subjects on the 5th and 7th day of each period. As a result of IBO feeding, the contents of lactic acid, formic acid and acetic acid were significant1y increased, and the fecal pH value was significantly decreased. Intestinal putrefaction and ammonia contents were decreased by IBO feeding, but the changes were not significant. Cansistent with our previous studies, the number of bifidobacteria and the percentage of this microorganism relative to the total fecal microflora were significantly increased. β-glucosidase activity was also increased significantly by the IBO feeding.
