Effects of water-soluble carbohydrate concentrate from Chinese jujube on different intestinal and fecal indices

J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Mar 12;56(5):1734-9. doi: 10.1021/jf072664z. Epub 2008 Feb 6.

Abstract

This study was to investigate the effects of water-soluble carbohydrate concentrate (WSCC) prepared from Chinese jujube ( Zizyphus jujuba) on different intestinal and fecal indices in a hamster model. WSCC contained carbohydrates (771 g kg(-1) of WSCC) including glucose, fructose, pectin polysaccharide, and hemicellulose. The administration of WSCC (5.0 and 15 g kg(-1) of diet) effectively ( P<0.05) shortened gastrointestinal transit time (by 34.2-57.3%), reduced cecal ammonia (by 58.1-60.3%), elevated total short-chain fatty acid concentrations in cecum (3-4-fold), increased fecal moisture (147-170%), reduced daily fecal ammonia output (by 31.9-75.8%), and decreased the activities of beta-D-glucuronidase (by 73.0-73.8%), beta-D-glucosidase (by 58.2-85.7%), mucinase (by 46.2-72.6%), and urease (by 31.9-48.7%) in feces. This study suggested that adequate consumption of jujube WSCC (at least 5.0 g kg(-1) of diet or 40 mg day(-1)) might exert favorable effects on improving the gastrointestinal milieu and reducing the exposure of intestinal mucosa to toxic ammonia and other detrimental compounds.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ammonia / analysis
  • Animals
  • Cricetinae
  • Dietary Carbohydrates / analysis
  • Dietary Carbohydrates / pharmacology*
  • Feces / chemistry*
  • Feces / enzymology
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / drug effects*
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / physiology
  • Gastrointestinal Transit
  • Polysaccharides / analysis
  • Polysaccharides / pharmacology*
  • Solubility
  • Water / metabolism
  • Ziziphus / chemistry*

Substances

  • Dietary Carbohydrates
  • Polysaccharides
  • Water
  • Ammonia