Mechanistic insights into consumption of the food additive xanthan gum by the human gut microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Processed foods often include food additives such as xanthan gum, a complex polysaccharide with unique rheological properties, that has established widespread use as a stabilizer and thickening agent. Xanthan gum's chemical structure is distinct from those of host and dietary polysaccharides that are more commonly expected to transit the gastrointestinal tract, and little is known about its direct interaction with the gut microbiota, which plays a central role in digestion of other dietary fibre polysaccharides. Here we show that the ability to digest xanthan gum is common in human gut microbiomes from industrialized countries and appears contingent on a single uncultured bacterium in the family Ruminococcaceae. Our data reveal that this primary degrader cleaves the xanthan gum backbone be

SUBMITTER: Ostrowski MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11537241 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature