[The metabolic behavior of the human plaque flora towards the sugar substitute xylitol]

By means of the Warburg technique, whether and to what extent microorganisms of the human plaque can metabolize xylitol under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions was studied, and the results were compared with those for saccharose. Under the chosen test conditions, this sugar alcohol was metabolized, if at all, in negligibly small traces only, during eight hours.