Pectins are non-digestible plant polysaccharides that are fermented by the gut microbiota. Due to the slow fermentation of pectin, it has a robust prebiotic effect on the distal colon when compared with commercial prebiotic products. This prebiotic effect results in the modulation of the gut microbiota, which is a likely cause of its beneficial health effects. The functionalities of the pectins are dependent on their structural characteristics, such as the molecular weight, molecular size, mono-sugar composition, and typically, the degree of esterification. In this study, we performed a comparative analysis on changes found in the human gut microbial community in response to pectins with either a high degree of esterification (HDE) or a low degree of esterification (LDE). We found that changes in the gut microbial community structure are dependent on the structure of the pectin supplied to bacterial cultures <i>in vitro</i>. However, the metabolism of both types of pectin by the gut microbiota caused a significant increase in overall short-chain fatty acid production. The high molecular weight (HMW), high degree of esterification (HDE) pectin treatment produced the most pronounced change in SCFA production, particularly an increase in butanoic acid production. This finding indicates that comparatively, HMW, HDE pectin was more beneficial than the HMW, LDE pectin to the gut microbial community <i>in vitro</i>.

Citrus pectins modulate the gut microbiota and increase short-chain fatty acid production in vitro.

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.