In Vitro Fermentation of Bacterial Cellulose Composites as Model Dietary Fibers

Plant cell walls within the human diet are compositionally heterogeneous, so defining the basis of nutritive properties is difficult. Using a pig fecal inoculum, in vitro fermentations of soluble forms of arabinoxylan, mixed-linkage glucan, and xyloglucan were compared with the same polymers incorporated into bacterial cellulose composites. Fermentation rates were highest and similar for the soluble polysaccharides. Cellulose composites incorporating those polysaccharides fermented more slowly and at similar rates to wheat bran. Bacterial cellulose and cotton fermented most slowly. Cellulose composite fermentation resulted in a different short-chain fatty acid profile, compared with soluble polysaccharides, with more butyrate and less propionate. The results suggest that physical form is more relevant than the chemistry of plant cell wall polysaccharides in determining both rate and end-products of fermentation using fecal bacteria. This work also establishes bacterial cellulose composites as a useful model system for the fermentation of complex cell wall dietary fiber.