Presence of Bacillus coagulans spores and vegetative cells in rat intestine and feces and their physiological effects.

This study was aimed to investigate the presence of Bacillus coagulans vegetative cells in the intestine and fecal samples in rats fed B. coagulans spores as well as to estimate the ratios of spores and vegetative cells in these samples. A two-step process has been developed to enumerate B. coagulans in different mixed bacterial samples, specifically (1) observation of yellow ring formation on modified GYEA medium upon incubation at 55°C, (2) microscopic examination of spore formation after 7 d of incubation. Our results have demonstrated the presence of vegetative cells in the intestinal and fecal samples in rats fed B. coagulans spores. The ratios of B. coagulans spores and vegetative cells in cecal fluid, colonic content, and feces were approximately 2:8, 2:8, and 4:6, respectively. The existence of B. coagulans vegetative cells improved the intestinal milieu through an elevated short-chain fatty acid concentrations, higher fecal moisture, and lower fecal pH.

Changes in physicochemical properties of corn starch upon modifications by atmospheric pressure plasma jet.

The influences of atmospheric pressure plasma jet on different physicochemical properties of corn starch were evaluated after treated with the plasma jet (30 min) at different strengths (400 W-800 W). Our results demonstrated that residual aging effects of plasma on starch could be eliminated by washing the treated samples with distilled water at a ratio of 1:30, w/v. After plasma and washing treatments, significant (p < 0.05) reductions in pasting properties including peak viscosity, final viscosity, and setback of starch samples (up to -87.1%, -92.0%, and -93.3%, respectively) were observed with increasing plasma intensity. Apparently, plasma jet could increase the solubility and paste clarity of starch sample. Surface morphological characterization illustrated that plasma etching resulted in some physical changes on starch granules. Modifications in these physicochemical properties of corn starch by employing the plasma jet treatment might be useful in food applications requiring starch ingredients of low viscosity and high paste clarity.

Inclusion of Fructooligosaccharide and Resistant Maltodextrin in High Fat Diets Promotes Simultaneous Improvements on Body Fat Reduction and Fecal Parameters.

This study investigated the effects of incorporating a mixture of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) and resistant maltodextrin (RMD) at a ratio of 1:2 on body fat accumulation and fecal bacterial parameters in rats. Our results indicated that high dietary fat consumption might effectively (p < 0.05) increase body fat, but consequently inducing a significantly (p < 0.05) higher growth of C. perfringens and retarded growth (p < 0.05) of the Bifidobacterium spp. in the large intestine. As compared with the high fat control, an incorporation of the FOS and RMD mixture at a high dose (0.97 and 1.94 g/kg body weight, respectively) could result in a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in feed efficiency (-16%), total visceral fat (-17.4%), non-visceral fat levels (-20.3%), and total body fat (-19.2%). Furthermore, feeding the FOS and RMD mixture at a high dose was capable to counter the above undesirable impacts by reducing the C. perfringens count (-14.8%) and increasing the total Bifidobacterium count (134.4%) and total fecal short chain fatty acids (195.4%). A supplementation of adequate amount of FOS and RMD might confer a concreted solution to the obesity and deteriorated fecal bacteria profiles due to high fat consumption.