Effects of Five Products on Gut Microbiota and Short-Chain Fatty Acids of Obese Rats

The effects of banana powder(BP), konjac powder(KP), resistant dextrin(RD), corn starch(CS) and L-carnitine(LC) on gut microbiota and metabolites (SCFA) were evaluated in order to provide basic data for the development of weight-loss functional food. The gut microbiota profile using 16S V4 rDNA high-throughput sequencing technique suggested that the rats of RD, BP and CS group developed an increased richness and diversity in the gut bacterial community, while the abundance of the KP and LC group was not enhanced obviously. Verrucomicrobiaceae, Coprococcus-2 and Lachnospiraceae were the main bacterial genera in the CS, BP and RD group respectively, indicating their potential use as prebiotics. On the other hand, rats fed with BP, KP, CS and RD contributed higher total SCFA than those feeding with LC diet. Thus, RD, BP, CS, KP could moduate gut microbiota and increase the SCFA concentration, while the effect of LC are not apparent.