The effects of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) intake (1g, 3g and 5g/day) for two weeks on the intestinal microflora and defecation were studied in 27 healthy volunteers (male 21, female 6) of three groups. The number of Bifidobacterium was significantly (p<0.01 or p<0.05) increased during FOS intake period in all the dose levels. Fecal excretion was also investigated in all subjects during the study. Significant increase of stool frequency (p<0.05) and softening effect on stool (p<0.01) were observed.

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The suppressive effects of feeding Bifidobacterium breve Yakult strain (BBY) on the intestinal putrefactive fermentation were examined in rats with human fecal flora (HF rats) prepared by administering human fecal suspension to Fischer 344/Yit germfree rats. The feeding of BBY (10⁸-10¹⁰/rat/day) with or without simultaneous feeding of transgalactosyl oligosaccharide (TOS) significantly suppressed the amount of urinary indican (detoxicant of indole), indole-3-acetate, cadaverine, piperidine and p-cresol. Tryptophanase, lysine decarboxylase activities, cadaverine and indole concentrations in intestinal contents also significantly decreased in the rats fed BBY with TOS. The minimum effective dose of BBY was estimated as 10⁹/day. Such suppression was effectively detected by oral or cecal loading of amino acids, which resulted in a significant amplifying of the levels of urinary putrefactive substances and intestinal bacterial enzyme activities in the control rats and in a slight amplifying of them in the feeding rats. The levels of bacterial counts, enzyme activities and putrefactive substances in feces, cecal contents or urine of HF rats used in this study were closely similar to those of donor human feces or conventional rats.

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Nine volunteers, 5 females and 4 males, ranging from 66 to 88yr (average 80.2yr) participated in this study. Yoghurt (130g) prepared with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus strain 2038 and Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus strain 1131 was administrated twice a day for 2 weeks. The odor of the feces was improved and the number of bifidobacteria in feces was significantly increased by the administration of yoghurt. In addition, the concentration of ammonia in feces was significantly decreased and the concentration of the other putrefactive metabolites such as p-cresol, indole and skatole were also decreased by the administration of yoghurt. The decrease in fecal pH was also found by the administration of yoghurt.

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Eight healthy volunteers, 5 females and 3 males, ranging from 21 to 50yr (average 28yr) participated in this study. Yoghurt (130g) prepared with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus strain 2038 and Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus strain 1131 was administrated, three times a day for 2 weeks. The numbers of bifidobacteria in feces of all subjects were increased and then the viable counts of Clostridium (lecithinase negative) were significantly decreased, respectively, by the administration of yoghurt. In addition, the concentration of the fecal-putrefactive metabolites such as p-cresol and indole were also decreased by the administration of yoghurt. The decrease in fecal pH was also found by the administration of yoghurt.

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The mixtures of fresh fecal samples from 5 volunteers and refined soybean oligosaccharides (SOR) containing 76% stachyose, 22% raffinose and 2% sucrose, were anaerobically incubated for 3hr at 37°C. After incubation, measurements were taken for pH, compositions of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), and putrefactive products including phenol, p-cresol, indole, skatole and ammonia. 1) In the samples mixed with SOR, the amount of saccharides-derived SCFA (acetic acid and butyric acid) were significantly higher than those in the control sample and the pH value was significantly lower than that in the control sample. 2) In contrast, the amount of certain putrefactive products including indole and ammonia was significantly reduced in the sample mixed with SOR compared with that in the control sample.

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