Decreasing the Crystallinity and Degree of Polymerization of Cellulose Increases Its Susceptibility to Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation by Colon Microbiota

• Published in: Foods Vol. 12; no. 5; p. 1100
• Main Authors: Thielemans, Karel, De Bondt, Yamina, Comer, Luke, Raes, Jeroen, Everaert, Nadia, Sels, Bert F, Courtin, Christophe M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04-03-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Acid production; Amorphization; Cellulase; Cellulolytic enzymes; Cellulose; Chromatography; Colon; colonic fermentation; Crystalline cellulose; Crystallinity; Degree of polymerization; Depolymerization; Dietary fiber; Digestibility; Enzymes; Fatty acids; Fecal microflora; Feces; Fermentation; Fiber in human nutrition; Food science; Glucose; Health aspects; Hydrolysis; Ingestion; Microbiota; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microorganisms; Observations; Physiology; Polymerization; prebiotic; Properties; Raw materials; Viscosity; Zirconium oxides; Belgium; United States > US; Germany; amorphization; colonic fermentation; depolymerization; cellulose; prebiotic; dietary fiber; short chain fatty acids
• ISSN: 2304-8158; 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods12051100

Cellulose can be isolated from various raw materials and agricultural side streams and might help to reduce the dietary fiber gap in our diets. However, the physiological benefits of cellulose upon ingestion are limited beyond providing fecal bulk. It is barely fermented by the microbiota in the human colon due to its crystalline character and high degree of polymerization. These properties make cellulose inaccessible to microbial cellulolytic enzymes in the colon. In this study, amorphized and depolymerized cellulose samples with an average degree of polymerization of less than 100 anhydroglucose units and a crystallinity index below 30% were made from microcrystalline cellulose using mechanical treatment and acid hydrolysis. This amorphized and depolymerized cellulose showed enhanced digestibility by a cellulase enzyme blend. Furthermore, the samples were fermented more extensively in batch fermentations using pooled human fecal microbiota, with minimal fermentation degrees up to 45% and a more than eight-fold increase in short-chain fatty acid production. While this enhanced fermentation turned out to be highly dependent on the microbial composition of the fecal pool, the potential of engineering cellulose properties to increased physiological benefit was demonstrated.