A hidden source of ketchup, salad sauce and toothpaste

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that our intestinal bacteria can feed on these large molecules – which is believed to be not possible – thanks to enzymes that usually help us break the dietary fiber.

“The researchers assumed that these fish factors, which are artificial derivatives of natural cellulose, just pass through the digestive system without change,” says Dr. Dembash Banwar, a post -PhD fellow at Michael Smith Labs and the author of the study published in The Stand in The Study in The Stunt. Grand Science Magazine. “But our study provides a first look at how to digest these nutrients already with intestinal bacteria thanks to natural sugars in our diet.”

The complex structure of these cellulose derivatives is what makes them valuable as thickening factors in popular products such as ketchup, removing power sauce and even toothpaste. This structure is also the reason why the intestine bacteria have difficulty breaking it – and why in higher concentrations, they are even used as facilities.

However, this new study appears in the laboratory that if the intestine bacteria are “preparation” with natural sugars – long chains of sugars in fruits, vegetables and grains – cellulose derivatives can be digested. This is because natural sugars stimulate enzymes that are produced on the surfaces of bacteria cells that can break the artificial cellulose molecules.

The results do not challenge the fact that these vehicles are safe for consumption, which have proven years of testing and date of use. However, the new research indicates that more work should be done to explore the physical, chemical and biological effects to digest cellulose derivatives by intestinal bacteria.

One of the reasons why researchers have not seen this before is that bacteria in the laboratory are often exposed to sugars, including cellulose derivatives, in isolation, instead of the combinations that mimic our diet. On their own, these cellulose derivatives cannot activate the same enzymes, which prevents them from digesting them.

“It was not really not really expected to see that these cellulose derivatives are actually used as a source of sugar for bacterial growth,” says Dr. Harry Bromer, a professor of Michael Smith laboratories and the Chemistry Department. “It is always surprising when a new discovery contradicts traditional wisdom, in this case that shows that these common additions are not only an inactive specialist.”

Dr. Bromer also notes that the next steps in this research will be to search for this ability in a wide range of human intestinal bacteria, and in the end they explore the possible effects on people’s nutrition.

So, the next time you have been associated with green salad with sweet clothes, know that the intestine bacteria work hard to shatter all parts of your meal.