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The Effects of Guar Gum or Wheat Bran on the Disappearance of ¹⁴C-Labeled Starch from the Rat Gastrointestinal Tract¹

Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

An animal model was used to test the hypothesis that guar gum, a source of soluble fiber, will slow the disappearance of starch from the gastrointestinal tract. Male Wistar rats were adapted for 1 wk to a purified diet and then divided into three groups and given 30 min to consume a test meal. The test meal contained 5% fiber derived from guar gum (GG) or wheat bran (WB) or was fiber-free (FF), and each contained 2.5 µCl ¹⁴C-labeled starch. At 1, 2.5, or 5 h postprandial, a group from each dietary treatment was killed, and stomach, small and large intestine and cecum were removed to determine the distribution of radioactivity. The isotope emptied from the stomach at a similar rate for all three groups. The percent ingested dose in the small intestine (SI) was highest in the upper half at 1 h and highest in the lower half at 2.5 h for all groups. The percent ingested dose of ¹⁴C-starch was significantly higher from upper SI segments in the GG group than from those in the FF group at 2.5 and 5 h, whereas percent ingested dose did not differ in the upper SI segments in the WB group compared to the FF group at 1, 2.5 and 5 h. These data indicate that a viscous polysaccharide (GG) can delay the disappearance of starch from the SI whereas a source of insoluble fiber (WB) did not slow starch disappearance.

KEY WORDS: • fiber • guar gum • wheat bran • starch • gastrointestinal • absorption

¹ Supported in part by Grant DK-20446 from the National Institutes of Health.

Manuscript received 9 August 1988. Revision accepted 14 November 1988.