| Abstract: | Abstract In a four-week experiment on rats' diets containing 5% of sucrose or fructooligosaccharides (FOS) diversified in terms of kestose and nystose contents: 6:1 (FOS-K), 3:1 (FOS-KN), and 0.5:1 (FOS-N) were applied. All FOS preparations, primarily FOS-N, considerably increased the mass of caecum, lowered pH of caecal digesta, and increased concentrations of protein. The glycolytic activity of the caecal digesta was generally alike in all groups, except for the control group where the activity of β-glucosidase was negligibly lower and that of α-galactosidase higher. The administration of FOS preparation with a diet increased the concentration and the pool of total VFA in the caecal digesta, especially in the case of butyric and propionic acids and decreased the concentration of iso-butyric and valeric acids. When compared with the kestose-rich preparation, the nystose-rich preparation increased the production of total VFA in the caecum, primarily of n-butyrate and propionate. Different length of kestose and nystose chains had no effect on the activity of bacterial enzymes in the caecum nor the biochemical indices of serum, concentration of cholesterol, glucose, urea, Ca, P and Mg. |
