In vitro digestion and human gut microbiota fermentation of longan pulp polysaccharides as affected by Lactobacillus fermentum fermentation

This study investigated the effect of Lactobacillus fermentum fermentation treatment on the gastrointestinal digestion and fermentation in vitro of polysaccharides from longan pulp. Polysaccharide isolated from unfermented and fermented longan pulp named LP and LP-F, respectively. The molecular weight of LP-F declined from 109.62 ± 10.66 kDa to 51.46 ± 6.26 kDa while that of LP declined from 221.63 ± 2.41 kDa to 69.68 ± 2.36 kDa with gastrointestinal digestion. At same time, the reducing sugars content of LP and LP-F were both increased significantly. In addition, after 48 h gut microbiota fermentation, there were more total short chain fatty acids and acetic acid, as well as more Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Clostridium in LP-F fermentation culture than those in LP fermentation culture. Moreover, LP-F fermentation culture showed lower pH value and less residual carbohydrate percentage than that of LP. These results indicated that LP-F is easier than LP to be fermented by human gut microbiota.