Abstract
Polysaccharides in the human diet that are not digested and absorbed in the stomach and small intestine enter the colon, where they are available for fermention by the complex and numerous population of bacteria that resides there. Most of the polysaccharides that reach the colon are plant cell wall polysaccharides, but some starch may also reach the colon (Englyst and Cummings, 1985). Plant polysaccharides are extensively degraded during passage through the colon and probably provide a major part of the carbon and energy required by colonic bacteria (Van Soest, 1978). Dietary polysaccharides are not the only type of carbohydrate that enters the colon. Goblet cells in the mucosa produce copious amounts of glycoprotein mucin, and the constant sloughing of cells from the mucosa of the small and large intestine releases tissue mucopolysaccharides into the lumen (Lennarz, 1980). Mucopolysaccharides are also found in meat.
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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York
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Salyers, A.A. (1990). Activities of Polysaccharide-Degrading Bacteria in the Human Colon. In: Kritchevsky, D., Bonfield, C., Anderson, J.W. (eds) Dietary Fiber. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0519-4_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0519-4_13
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