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Oat Bran but Not a ß-Glucan-Enriched Oat Fraction Enhances Butyrate Production in the Large Intestine of Pigs¹

National Institute of Animal Science, Department of Animal Physiology and Biochemistry, Research Center Foulum, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark

Digestibility of polysaccharides and other macronutrients and the metabolic response of the microflora in the large intestine to a low dietary fiber wheat flour diet and three enriched diets with equal amounts of added dietary fiber (oat bran, a ß-glucan-enriched oat fraction and insoluble oat residues) were studied in ileal-cannulated pigs. The digestibility of starch was high in the small intestine (98–100%). At this site of the gastrointestinal tract there was also a significant degradation of mixed linked ß(13; 14)-D-glucan (ß-glucan) (45–54%), whereas arabinoxylan was quantitatively recovered in ileal effluent. Type and amount of polysaccharides passing the ileal-cecal junction had little effect on the density of microorganism in the large intestine (10¹⁰ viable counts/g digesta) but did have a high impact on the activity of the flora in colon as measured by the concentration of ATP in digesta. The relative proportion of butyrate in the short-chain fatty acids in the luminal contents of the large intestine was 6.6–8.4% when the low dietary fiber wheat flour diet was fed. However, when either oat bran or insoluble residues were included in the diet, the level was raised to 9.3–11.2%. No effect was seen after the addition of the ß-glucan-enriched fraction. This study showed that arabinoxylan and not ß-glucan in the cell walls of oat bran was responsible for the enhanced butyrate production of oat bran.

KEY WORDS: • oat bran • dietary fiber • pigs • digestibility • butyrate

¹ Supported by the Danish Agricultural and Veterinary Research Council.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed.

³ Current address: Danish Centre for Tropical Agriculture and Environment, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Rolighedsrej 23, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.

Manuscript received 9 September 1992. Revision accepted 16 March 1993.