Basic polysaccharide strongly inhibited the hydrolysis of trioleoylglycerol (TO) emulsified with phosphatidylcholine and taurocholate by either pancreatic lipase or carboxylester lipase. DEAE-Sephadex dose-dependently inhibited the hydrolysis of TO by pancreatic lipase and carboxylester lipase; however, carboxymethyl-Sephadex and Sephadex G-50 did not inhibit the hydrolysis. Polydextrose (PD), a soluble polysaccharide, was a very weak inhibitor of pancreatic lipase. However, when a basic group, a DEAE group, was attached to PD, lipase inhibition by DEAE-PD was increased, and this was dependent on the substitution ratio of DEAE groups. The number of positive charges per PD molecule is important in lipase inhibition. Similar substitution effects were observed with other basic groups, such as piperidinoethyl and 3-triethylamino-2-hydroxypropyl. The natural basic polysaccharide, chitosan, also inhibited pancreatic lipase activity. Gel-filtration experiments suggested that DEAE-PD did not bind strongly to pancreatic lipase. The effect of DEAE-PD on TO hydrolysis by pancreatic lipase was studied using various emulsifiers: DEAE-PD (50 microg/ml) did not inhibit the hydrolysis of TO emulsified with arabic gum, phosphatidylserine, or phosphatidic acid. In vivo, oral administration of DEAE-PD to rats reduced the peak plasma triacylglycerol concentration and increased fecal lipid excretion. These results suggest that basic polysaccharide is able to suppress dietary fat absorption from the small intestine by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity.