1996 Volume 49 Issue 3 Pages 143-148
We produced cellooligosaccharides from cellulose with a membrane bioreactor, and studied their physiological functions. The results can be summarized as follows. (1) Although cellooligosaccharides were resistant to human salivary amylase, artificial gastric juice and porcine pancreatic amylase, they were partially hydrolyzed by rat intestinal mucosa cell homogenates. (2) The blood glucose level after cellooligosaccharide loading was gradually increased in rats. However, no increase in the blood glucose level was observed in humans. Insulin secretion was not stimulated by cellooligosaccharides in either rats or humans. (3) Excretion into feces after a single ingestion of cellooligosaccharides was not detected in rats. (4) The rats were kept for 4 weeks on a high-sucrose diet or a cellooligosaccharide-supplemented highsucrose diet. At the 4th week, body fat, the serum level of fructosamine, total cholesterol and triglyceride were higher in the high-sucrose-fed rats than in the cellooligosaccharide-fed rats. These results suggest that cellooligosaccharides are indigestible saccharides, and that they would be expected to have beneficial effects on carbohydrate metabolism and prevention of diabetes and obesity.
