Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:39:52.752Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of wheat bran and pectin on the distribution of water in rat caecal contents and faeces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Elizabeth F. Armstrong ,
Martin A. Eastwood  and
W. Gordon Brydon
Elizabeth F. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Gastrointestinal Unit, University Department of Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Martin A. Eastwood
Affiliation:
Gastrointestinal Unit, University Department of Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
W. Gordon Brydon
Affiliation:
Gastrointestinal Unit, University Department of Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Wheat bran and pectin (100 g/kg) were added to a basal diet and fed to rats. An in vitro dialysis technique was used to measure the distribution of caecal and faecal water between the bound, i.e. that held by bacteria and undigested macromolecules, and free water. Bran increased wet (67%) and dry (74%) faecal weight. Pectin increased wet faecal weight (59 %), but did not influence dry weight. In faeces both bran and pectin increased the amount of total and bound water, but only pectin increased total and bound water when expressed on a dry weight basis. Caecal wet (90%) and dry (67%) weights increased with pectin but not with bran. Bran did not change total water but increased bound water whereas pectin increased both. This suggests that water contributed more to the increase in stool bulk in the pectin- supplemented animals due to free and bound water associated with both increased numbers of bacteria and residual pectin. Pectin altered the distribution of water in faeces. Bran has no effect on water distribution and is only partly fermented. The residual water-holding capacity leads to an increased wet and dry stool output.

Keywords

Dietary fibreCaecal waterFaecal waterRat
Type
Effects of Polysaccharides in the Colon
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 69 , Issue 3 , May 1993 , pp. 913 - 920
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1993

References

Armstrong, E. A., Brydon, W. G. & Eastwood, M. (1990). Fiber metabolism and colonic water. In Dietary Fiber, pp. 179–186 [Kritchevsky, D., Bonfield, C. and Anderson, J. W., editors]. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billich, C. O. & Leviton, R. (1979). Effects of sodium concentration and osmolality on water and electrolyte absorption from the intact colon. Journal of Clinical Investigation 48, 1336–1347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burkitt, D. P., Walker, A. R. P. & Painter, N. S. (1972). Effect of dietary fibre on stools and transit times, and its role in the causation of disease. Lancet ii, 1408–1412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chauve, A. (1976). Intraluminal pressures during perfusion of the human colon in situ. Gastroenterology 70,336–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czerkawski, J. W. (1974). Methods for determining 2–6-diaminopimelic acid and 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid in gut contents. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 25, 45–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eastwood, M. A., Brydon, W. G., Baird, J. D., Elton, R. A., Smith, J. H. & Pritchard, J. L. (1982). Fecal weight and composition, serum lipids, and diet among subjects aged 18–80 years not seeking health care. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40, 628–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastwood, M. A., Robertson, J. A., Brydon, W. G. & MacDonald, D. (1983). Measurement of water-holding properties of fibre and their faecal bulking ability in man. British Journal of Nutrition 50, 539–547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Englyst, H. N. & Cummings, J. H. (1988). Vitamins and other nutrients. Improved method for measurement of dietary fiber as non-starch polysaccharides in plant foods. Journal of the Association of Offcial Analytical Chemists 71, 808–814.Google Scholar
Falconer, J. D., Smith, A. N. & Eastwood, M. A. (1980). The effects of bile acids on colonic motility in the rat. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology 85, 135–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellendoorn, E. W. (1969). Intestinal effects following ingestion of beans. Food Technology 23, 87–93.Google Scholar
Hove, E. L. & King, S. (1979). Effect ofpectin and cellulose on growth, feed efficiency and protein utilisation, and their contribution to energy requirements and caecal VFA in rats. Journal of Nutrition 109, 1274–1278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McBurney, M. I., Horvath, P. J., Jeraci, J. L. & Van Soest, P. J. (1985). Effect of in vitro fermentation using human faecal inoculum on the water-holding capacity of dietary fibre. British Journal of Nutrition 53, 17–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNeil, N. I., Cummings, J. H. & James, W. P. T. (1978). Short chain fatty acid absorption by the human large intestine. Gut 18, 819–822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyman, M. & Asp, N.-G. (1982). Fermentation of dietary fibre components in the rat intestinal tract. British Journal of Nutrition 47, 357–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, S. F. & Giller, J. H. (1973). The contribution of the colon to electrolytes and water conservation in man. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 8, 733–746.Google Scholar
Robertson, J. A. & Eastwood, M. A. (1981). A method to measure the water-holding properties of dietary fibre using suction pressure. British Journal of Nutrition 46, 247–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, A. H. McL., Eastwood, M. A., Brydon, W. G., Anderson, J. R. & Anderson, D. M. W. (1983). A study of the effects of dietary gum arabic in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 37, 368–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sakata, T. (1987). Short-chain fatty acids and water in the hindgut contents and faeces of rats after hindgut bypass surgery. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 22, 961–968.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siljestrom, M. & Asp, N.-G. (1985). Resistant starch formation during baking. Effect of baking time and temperature and variations on the recipe. Zeitschrift für Lebensmitteluntersuchung und -forschung 181, 4–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slavin, J. L., Nelson, N. L., McNamara, E. A. & Cashmere, K. (1985). Bowel function of healthy men consuming liquid diets. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 9, 317–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spiller, G. A., Chernoff, M. C., Hill, R. A., Gates, J. E., Nassar, J. J. & Shipley, E. A. (1988). Effect of purified cellulose, pectin and a low residue diet on faecal volatile fatty acids, transit-time and faecal weight in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33, 754–759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephen, A. M. & Cummings, J. H. (1980 a). Water-holding by dietary fibre in vitro and its relationship to faecal output in man. Gut 20, 722–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stephen, A. M. & Cummings, J. H. (1980 b). The microbial contribution to human faecal mass. Journal of Medica1 Microbiology 13, 45–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephen, A. M. & Cummings, J. H. (1980 c). Mechanism of action of dietary fibre in the human colon. Nature 284,283–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomlin, J. & Read, N. W. (1988). Laxative properties of indigestible plastic particles. British Medical Journal 297,1175–1176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yajima, T. (1985). Contractile effects of short-chain fatty acids on the isolated colon in the rat. Journal of Printed in Great Britain Physiology 368, 667–678.Google Scholar