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Human gut microbiota does not ferment erythritol.
Eva Arrigoni1, Fred Brouns, Renato Amadò
1Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, ETH-Zentrum, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland. eva.arrigoni@ilw.agrl.ethz.ch
The British Journal of Nutrition
|November 10, 2005
Summary
Erythritol, a sugar alcohol sweetener, is not fermented by human gut bacteria, even after 24 hours. This indicates erythritol is unlikely to be broken down in the colon.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Microbiology
- Human Nutrition
Background:
- Erythritol is a natural polyol sweetener produced by glucose fermentation.
- It is known to be non-cariogenic and is rapidly absorbed and excreted.
- Only a small fraction of erythritol reaches the colon, with prior studies showing no fermentation within 12 hours.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential adaptation of human intestinal microbiota to erythritol.
- To determine if erythritol is fermented by colonic bacteria over a 24-hour period.
Main Methods:
- In vitro fermentation of erythritol using fresh human intestinal microbiota for 24 hours.
- Comparison with maltitol, lactulose, and a blank control.
- Monitoring of fermentation parameters: gas production, hydrogen accumulation, pH changes, short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, and substrate degradation.
Main Results:
- Erythritol demonstrated complete resistance to bacterial fermentation throughout the 24-hour incubation period.
- No adaptation of enzyme activities in the human intestinal microbiota towards erythritol was observed.
- Maltitol and lactulose showed expected fermentation patterns.
Conclusions:
- Erythritol is resistant to fermentation by human colonic microbiota within 24 hours.
- The potential for microbial adaptation to erythritol within this timeframe is excluded.
- Given continuous influx of more fermentable substrates in vivo, erythritol fermentation in the colon is highly unlikely.