Biotechniques to assess the fermentation of resistant starch in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract

Energy salvage from the fermentation of retrograded resistant starch (Novelose(TM)) was investigated using the rat as a model for man. Total bacterial fermentation of resistant starch specifically in the large gut regions (caecum, proximal colon and distal colon) was determined with reference to a dietary marker (TiO2). Total short-chain fatty acid and lactate production by fermentation in vivo was estimated using stoichiometrics (mol mol-1 glucose in resistant starch) obtained from resistant starch fermentation of recovered gut contents in vitro. Utilisation of short-chain fatty acids and lactate represented the difference between total production less equilibrium values of these components in the gut contents as isolated. 55¯62% of the gross energy of the resistant starch fermented was salvaged by the host.