Poor growth during parasitic infection may be due to a redistribution of amino acids away from skeletal muscle protein synthesis to the intestinal site of infection. The effect of a Trichostrongylus colubriformis infection on whole-body amino acid kinetics and tissue fractional protein synthesis rates were determined in lambs fed fresh Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium; 800g DM/d). Lambs were dosed with 6000 L3 Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae daily for 6d (n 6) or kept as parasite-free controls (n 6). On day 45 post-infection, the lambs received an intravenous injection of 2H2O and infusions (8h) of [35S]sulphate to measure the size of the whole-body water and sulphate pools, respectively. On day 48, the lambs were continuously infused for 8h with [3,4-3H]valine into the jugular vein as well as with [1-13C]valine and [35S]cysteine into the abomasum. After the 8h infusions, the lambs were killed and tissue samples collected from the duodenum, ileum, mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, spleen, thymus, muscle and skin. Feed intake (769 v. 689 (sd 47) g DM/d) was not affected by infection, whereas liveweight gains (50 v. −50 (sd 70) g/d) were lower and intestinal worm burdens(240 v. 18 000 (sd 7000) worms) higher in the infected lambs. Parasitic infection increased the fractional protein synthesis rates in the small intestine, mesenteric lymph nodes and liver but did not affect skin and skeletal muscle fractional protein synthesis rates during the established parasitic infection.

Three 8-week growth experiments were conducted to quantify the requirements of the fingerling Cirrhinus mrigala for the dietary branched-chain amino acids valine (experiment 1), isoleucine (experiment 2) and leucine (experiment 3). Six isonitrogenous (400/g) and isoenergetic (17·90k/) test diets were formulated with a gradation of 2·5/g for each test amino acid, valine (7·5–20/g), isoleucine (5·0–17·5/g) and leucine (7·5–20/g), and fed to randomly stocked fish in circular troughs. In experiment 1, the maximum weight gain (312%), best feed conversion ratio (FCR; 1·45) and best protein efficiency ratio (PER; 1·72) were obtained in fish fed 15·0g dietary valin/g. In experiment 2, the highest weight gain (317%), best FCR (1·47) and best PER (1·70) were recorded at 12·5g dietary isoleucin/g, and in experiment 3, the highest weight gain (308%), best FCR (1·46) and best PER (1·71) were noted at 15·0g dietary leucin/g. A quadratic regression analysis of weight gain, FCR and PER data showed an optimum requirement at 15·9, 15·0 and 14·8/g for valine, 13·2, 12·3 and 12·1/g for isoleucine and 15·6, 15·4 and 15·1/g for leucine in dry diets. Low body moisture and higher protein were noted in fish fed diets containing 15·5, 12·5 and 15·0g valine, isoleucine and leucine per kg, respectively. Body fat increased with increasing levels of the branched-chain amino acids. On the basis of a regression analysis of growth data, it is recommended that a diet for C. mrigala should contain valine at 15·2, isoleucine at 12·6 and leucine at 15·4/g dry diet, corresponding to 38·0, 31·5 and 38·5/g dietary protein, respectively.

Nuts contain significant amounts of essential micronutrients that are associated with an improved health status when consumed at doses beyond those necessary to prevent deficiency states. Nuts do not contain cholesterol, but they are rich in chemically related phytosterols, a class of compounds that interfere with intestinal cholesterol absorption and thus help lower blood cholesterol. Nuts also contain folate, a B-vitamin necessary for normal cellular function that plays an important role in detoxifying homocysteine, a sulphur-containing amino acid with atherothrombotic properties that accumulates in plasma when folate status is subnormal. Compared to other common foodstuffs, nuts have an optimal nutritional density with respect to healthy minerals, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. Like that of most vegetables, the sodium content of nuts is very low. A high intake of calcium, magnesium and potassium, together with a low sodium intake, is associated with protection against bone demineralisation, arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, and overall cardiovascular risk. Phytosterols might justify part of the cholesterol-lowering effect of nut intake beyond that attributable to fatty acid exchange, while the mineral richness of nuts probably contributes to the prevention of diabetes and coronary heart disease observed in epidemiological studies in association with frequent nut consumption.

The aim of the present study was to determine the influence of the dietary fatty acid profile on the lipoprotein composition in sea bream fed different vegetable oils. Six experimental diets were formulated combining fish oil with three vegetable oils (soybean, rapeseed, linseed) in order to obtain 60–80 % (w/w) fish-oil replacement. VLDL, LDL and HDL in plasma samples were obtained by sequential centrifugal flotation. The lipid class, protein content and fatty acid composition of each lipoprotein fraction were analysed. HDL was the predominant lipoprotein in sea bream plasma containing the highest proportion of protein (34 %) and phosphatidylcholine. LDL presented a high content of cholesterol, whereas triacylglycerol comprised a larger proportion of VLDL. The lipid class of the lipoprotein fractions was affected by the dietary vegetable oils. Thus, a high dietary inclusion of soyabean and linseed oil (80 %) increased the cholesterol in HDL and LDL in comparison to fish oil. Similarly, the triacylglycerol concentration of VLDL was increased in fish fed 80 % soyabean and linseed oils owing to the low n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid content of these diets. Lipoprotein fatty acid composition easily responded to dietary fatty acid composition. VLDL was the fraction more affected by dietary fatty acid, followed by LDL and HDL. The n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid content increased in the order VLDL less than LDL and less than HDL, regardless of dietary vegetable oils.

Casein-based diets containing a low (LDI) or high (HDI) dose of soya protein concentrate enriched with isoflavones were fed to obese Zucker rats for 6 weeks. HDI feeding, but not LDI feeding, reduced the fatty liver and decreased the plasma levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase. This was accompanied by increased activities of mitochondrial and peroxisomal β-oxidation, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase and glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase in liver and increased triacylglycerol level in plasma. The decreased fatty liver and the increased plasma triacylglycerol level appeared not to be caused by an increased secretion of VLDL, as HDI decreased the hepatic mRNA levels of apo B and arylacetamide deacetylase. However, the gene expression of VLDL receptor was markedly decreased in liver, but unchanged in epididymal white adipose tissue and skeletal muscle of rats fed HDI, indicating that the liver may be the key organ for the reduced clearance of triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins from plasma after HDI feeding. The n−3/n−6, 20:4n-/8:2n−6 and (20:5n−3+22:6n−3)/18:3n−3 ratios were increased in liver triacylglycerol by HDI. The phospholipids in liver of rats fed HDI contained a low level of 20:4n−6 and a high level of 20:5n−3, favouring the production of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids. When obese Zucker rats were fed soya protein, this also resulted in reduced fatty liver, possibly through reduced clearance of VLDL by the liver. We conclude that the isoflavone-enriched soya concentrate as well as soya protein may be promising dietary supplements for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations promotes nutrition interventions considering food as the basis for action, given the strategic role of food and the agricultural sector to improve food security for the community; thus, a large number of people, especially the poor, who participate directly or indirectly in agricultural activities are able to obtain benefits from its multifunctional character. Food-based nutrition interventions have the purpose of improving food production and availability, processing and conservation, supply and commercialization, as well as access and food consumption. The basis of this focus is community and local government participation in the planning, execution, supervision and evaluation of specific interventions. Food-based nutrition interventions include the development of community gardens and farms in urban and rural areas; hydroponic gardens and other related initiatives in urban and periurban agriculture; as well as the promotion of traditional crops with nutritional value and the development of small agro-industries. Food-based nutrition interventions can be implemented to improve the food supply in street and itinerant markets, town squares and rural markets, and street food sales. In all food-based interventions, food safety and quality control must be taken into consideration throughout the food chain. The interventions on nutrition education increase the family's capacity to improve access to and consumption of food. Food-based dietary guidelines and nutrition education in schools are highlighted, as well as the utilization of school gardens.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) belong to a family of growth factors with structural homology to proinsulin. In our previous studies, we found that both IGF-I and IGF-II gene expression showed growth hormone (GH) dependence in the brain and liver of juvenile common carp when treated in vivo with GH for a short time. This present work aimed to study the effects of both the short-term and long-term GH induction of IGF gene expression using cysteamine (CSH) and fasting/re-feeding. CSH is an agent that can deplete somatostatin to increase circulating GH level. IGF mRNA levels in the flesh (muscle) and liver of common carp were determined using real-time PCR.

The chronic treatment of common carp with CSH was carried out for 63d, with growth enhancement of the treated fish noted. Hepatic IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA levels increased in a dose-dependent manner with short-term CSH treatment, whereas IGF-I decreased and IGF-II increased in the liver after chronic CSH treatment. IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA levels in muscle were found to be elevated with the high-dose, long-term CSH treatment. Under the experimentally induced catabolic states of fasting, both hepatic IGF-I and IGF-II gene expression were significantly reduced, whereas they showed no change in muscle. After re-feeding, the hepatic expression of IGF-I in liver and muscle rebounded significantly. The hepatic IGF-II expression level showed no rebound after re-feeding, but the IGF-II level in muscle rebounded to the level of the fed group after re-feeding.

To determine the effect of under-nutrition during suckling in adults, at delivery female Sprague Dawley rats were allowed to lactate litters of either eight (controls) or sixteen pups each (large litter, LL). The amount of milk taken by LL pups was less than the controls and the concentration of triacylglycerols (TG) in the milk of the former was lower. The increase of both body weight and length in LL was lower than in the controls during suckling. At weaning, pups were allowed to eat ad libitum a standard diet and whereas at 20 months female body weight did not differ between LL and control rats, LL males weighed less than controls. Plasma NEFA were lower in male LL than in controls at 10 months, leptin at 10 and 16 months and TG and VLDL-TG at 20 months, with no differences in females. When 20 months old, lumbar and epididymal adipose tissue weights were lower in male LL than in controls, but not in females. The increase in plasma insulin after oral glucose load was lower in LL than in controls, both in males and females at 4 and 16 months, and only in males at 10 months, whereas the change in plasma glucose remained constant between the groups. Results indicate that both the pancreatic β-cell function and insulin sensitivity and adipose tissue metabolism are independently programmed as a consequence of under-nutrition during suckling, the effect being more manifest for males than for females.

On an international scale, the last seventy-five years have been a period of deep social, economic and political transformation for the developing countries. They have been especially influenced by the international phenomenon of globalization, the benefits of which have been unequally distributed among countries. In this context, the strategies used to improve the general nutritional health of the population of developing countries include broad approaches integrating nutritional interventions in a context of sustainable community development, while valuing the existing relations between fields as diverse as agriculture, education, sociology, economy, health, environment, hygiene and nutrition. The community nutrition programmes are emblematic of these initiatives. Nevertheless, in spite of the increasing evidence of the potential possibilities offered by these programmes to improve the nutritional status and contribute to the development and the self-sufficiency of the community, their success is relatively limited, due to the inappropriate planning, implementation and evaluation of the programmes. In the present article, I attempt to emphasie the importance of community participation of the population of developing countries in the community nutrition programmes within the context of globalization. This process is not only an ethical imperative, but a pragmatic one. It is a crucial step in the process of liberation, democratization and equality that will lead to true sustainable development.

The absorption and metabolism in the small intestine of chlorogenic acid (5-0-caffeoylquinic acid), the main phenolic acid in the human diet, and of caffeic acid were studied in rats in order to determine whether chlorogenic acid is directly absorbed or hydrolysed in the small intestine. Chlorogenic and caffeic acids were perfused into a segment of ileum plus jejunum during 45;min (50;μm, 0·75sp;ml/min) using an in situ intestinal perfusion rat model with cannulation of the biliary duct, and were quantified together with their metabolites in perfusion effluent, bile and plasma. The net absorption (influent flux minus effluent flux of phenolic acids and their metabolites) accounted for 19·5% and 8% of the perfused caffeic and chlorogenic acids, respectively. A minor fraction of the perfused caffeic acid was metabolized in the intestinal wall and secreted back into the gut lumen in the form of ferulic acid (0·5% of the perfused flux). Part of the chlorogenic acid (1·2% of the perfused flux) was recovered in the gut effluent as caffeic acid, showing the presence of trace esterase activity in the gut mucosa. No chlorogenic acid was detected in either plasma or bile, and only low amounts of phenolic acids (less than 0·4%) were secreted in the bile. The present results show that chlorogenic acid is absorbed and hydrolysed in the small intestine. In contrast to numerous flavonoids, absorbed phenolic acids are poorly excreted in the bile or gut lumen. Their bioavailability therefore appears to be governed largely by their uptake into the gut mucosa.

Effects of different inulin-type fructan fractions were studied on atherosclerotic plaque formation in male apo E-deficient mice. Thirty-two mice were randomly divided into four groups and received either a semi-purified sucrose-based diet (control group), or diets in which sucrose was replaced in part by various inulin-type fructans (10 g/100 g): long-chain inulin, oligofructose, or an oligofructose-enriched inulin for 16 weeks. The presence of atherosclerotic plaques was assessed by histomorphometry in the aortic sinus. The apo E-deficient mice fed long-chain inulin or an oligofructose-enriched inulin had about 35 % and 25 % less atherosclerotic lesion area compared with the control group, respectively. Feeding long-chain inulin significantly reduced plasma cholesterol concentrations (P<0·001), and the three inulin-type fructans reduced triacylglycerol (TAG) concentrations compared with the control group (P<0·001). Both the long-chain inulin and an oligofructose-enriched inulin significantly lowered hepatic cholesterol concentrations compared with the control diet (P<0·05). Hepatic TAG concentrations were significantly lower in all three groups fed the fructan-supplemented diets v. the control group (P<0·0001). The results of the present study suggest that inhibition of atherosclerotic plaque formation is more potent in the presence of long-chain inulin, either alone or in combination with oligofructose (an oligofructose-enriched inulin), and that this probably is related to changes in lipid metabolism.

In the present study, the hypoglycaemic potentials of ginger (Zingiber officinale) were studied in rats. An aqueous extract of raw ginger was administered daily (500 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) for a period of 7 weeks to streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Fasting blood serum was analysed for blood glucose, cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels. The STZ-injected rats exhibited hyperglycaemia accompanied with weight loss, indicating their diabetic condition. At a dose of 500 mg/kg, raw ginger was significantly effective in lowering serum glucose, cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels in the ginger-treated diabetic rats compared with the control diabetic rats. The ginger treatment also resulted in a significant reduction in urine protein levels. In addition, the ginger-treated diabetic rats sustained their initial weights during the treatment period. Moreover, ginger decreased both water intake and urine output in the STZ-induced diabetic rats. The present results indicate that raw ginger possesses hypoglycaemic, hypocholesterolaemic and hypolipidaemic potential. Additionally, raw ginger is effective in reversing the diabetic proteinuria observed in the diabetic rats. Thus, ginger may be of great value in managing the effects of diabetic complications in human subjects.

Suboptimal intake of Zn is one of the most common nutritional worldwide problems. Previously, we showed that Zn deficiency produces alterations in lung lipid metabolism in rats. We studied the effect of a Zn-limited (ZL) diet on the expression of the enzymes involved in phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol synthesis. After 2 months of treatment with a ZL diet we found important variations in the lipid content of Wistar male rats: triacylglycerol (TG) decreased 60 % (P < 0·001) while esterified cholesterol (EC), free cholesterol and phospholipids (PL) increased 66 %, 24 % and 25 % respectively. We also observed a decrease of 40 % in the amount of 3H incorporated into TG and an increase of 47 % and 28 % in the 3H incorporated to PL and EC respectively. Fatty acid synthase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity was increased (P < 0·01 and P < 0·05 respectively). Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, lipoprotein lipase, diacyl glycerol acyl transferase and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase expression decreased (P < 0·01 in all cases), while acetyl CoA carboxylase and cholinephosphate cytidylyltransferase increased (P < 0·01 and P < 0·005 respectively). These results suggest that ZL alters the expression of enzymes involved in phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol synthesis, which could lead to increased PL and cholesterol and decreased TG. This study suggests that major changes in the lipid composition of lung are induced by a ZL condition. Therefore, Zn deficiency must be taken into account in order to design therapies and public health interventions, such as Zn supplementation for high-risk subjects or certain diseases, such as asthma.

Dietary fibre has a range of metabolic health benefits. Through a variety of mechanisms, dietary fibre, and the viscous variety in particular, slows down gastric emptying and intestinal transit, decreases the rate of intestinal carbohydrate absorption, and increases faecal bile acid excretion. Therefore, consumption of some types of soluble fibre can enhance satiety, which is associated with a lower BMI, and reduce blood cholesterol and the postprandial glucose response. Surprisingly, the consumption of insoluble fibre from whole grains, though metabolically inert, has been associated with a reduction in the risk of developing coronary heart disease and diabetes in epidemiological studies. The likely reason is that whole grains, like nuts, legumes and other edible seeds, contain many bioactive phytochemicals and various antioxidants. After cereals, nuts are the vegetable foods that are richest in fibre, which may partly explain their benefit on the lipid profile and cardiovascular health.

Vitamin A (VA) deficiency is a worldwide public health problem. Biofortifying existing sources of β-carotene (βC) and increasing dietary βC could help combat the issue. Two studies were performed to investigate the relative βC bioavailability of a βC supplement to purple, high-βC orange, and typical orange carrots using Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). In study 1, which used a traditional bioavailability design, gerbils (n32) received a diet containing orange, purple, or white carrot powder, or white carrot powder +a βC supplement. In study 2, which included βC-biofortified carrots, gerbils (n 39) received orange, high-βC orange, purple, or white carrot powder in their diet. Both studies lasted 21 d and the gerbils were killed to determine the effect of carrot type or supplement on serum and liver βC, α-carotene, and VA concentrations. Liver stores of βC or VA in the gerbils did not differ between orange and purple carrot diets when equal amounts of βC from each of the diets were consumed (P>0·05). Both the orange and purple carrot diet resulted in higher liver VA compared with the supplement (P<0·05). High-βC carrots resulted in more than 2-fold higher βC and 1·1 times greater VA liver stores compared with typical orange carrots (P<0·05). These results suggest that high-βC carrots may be an alternative source of VA to typical carrots in areas of VA deficiency. Second, phenolics including anthocyanins and phenolic acids in purple carrot do not interfere with the bioavailability of βC from purple carrots.

Experimental butters with a high content of trans-18:1 fatty acids an/r cis-9,trans-11-18:2 (rumenic acid; RA) were fed to thirty-six New Zealand White rabbits to investigate their effects on adipose tissue (AT) and liver lipogenic activities. Animals received one of three atherogenic (0·2% cholesterol) diets containing 12% butter with either a standard fatty acid composition (rich in saturated fatty acids), rich in trans-10-18:1 (T10 diet) or in trans-11-18:1 plus RA (T11+ RA diet) for 6 or 12 weeks. The ingestion of butters rich in trans fatty acids an/r RA for 6 weeks had little or no effect on liver and AT lipogenesis. The ingestion for 12 weeks of butter rich in T11 + RA decreased perirenal AT weight, lipogenic enzyme and lipoprotein lipase activities, without affecting liver lipid concentration or lipogenic activities except for a decrease in glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity. Similar trends, but of a lower magnitude, were observed in rabbits fed the T10 diet for 12 weeks. Ingestion of the T10 or T11 + RA diets for 6 or 12 weeks had no significant effect on plasma metabolites and hormones except for glucose which increased at 6 weeks in the T10 group. Plasma leptin concentration was positively correlated with AT weight but did not differ between the three diets. In conclusion, the supply of butters rich in either T10 or T11 + RA in an atherogenic diet for 12 weeks decreased rabbit AT lipogenesis, with a more marked effect of the T11 + RA diet, but had no effect on liver lipogenesis.

We have shown recently that dietary fat content influences the bioavailability of the flavonol quercetin. In the present study, the influence of the fatty acid pattern of dietary fats on the oral bioavailability of quercetin was investigated. Quercetin (30 μmol/kg body weight) was administered to growing pigs (n 6) in test meals consisting either of 200 g of a standard pig diet (2 % crude fat) or of the same diet supplemented with 15 g fat/100 g diet using either medium-chain (MCT) or long-chain fatty acid triacylglycerols (LCT). Blood samples were drawn repeatedly over a period of 24 h and analysed by HPLC. In addition, the influence of the different diets on gastric emptying was investigated in rats. In pigs, the bioavailability of quercetin was measured by quantifying its plasma metabolites with an intact flavonol structure. Bioavailability was enhanced by 38 % (P < 0·05) and 12 % (P>0·05) after intake with the MCT and LCT diets, respectively, compared to the standard diet. Maximum plasma concentrations of quercetin were reached significantly later with the MCT diet than with the LCT or the standard diet (P < 0·05). No differences in dry matter of the gastric content were observed 60 min after intake of the experimental diets in rats. Thus, administration of quercetin together with a diet containing MCT fat enhances the bioavailability of the flavonol. Absorption of quercetin was delayed significantly with this diet. However, this was probably not due to slower gastric emptying of the MCT diet.

The number of elderly people is increasing in less-developed countries. Although nutritional deficiencies and infectious diseases are generally more prevalent in resource-poor countries, the health and nutritional status of the elderly in South America in general, and in Ecuador, in particular, remains largely unstudied. The objective of the present study was to assess the nutritional, immunological and health status of elderly Ecuadorians. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate a sample of elderly Ecuadorians with 24 h dietary recalls, biochemical and anthropometric measurements, delayed type hypersensitivity skin response and a health questionnaire. The 145 elders who enrolled had a mean age of 74·3 (sd 6·9) years. Of the subjects, 52 % exhibited BMI ≥25 kg/m2, whereas 9·1 % had BMI ≤20 kg/m2. Means of dietary intakes were below recommendations for most nutrients; exceptions were carbohydrate, fat, Fe and Se. Serum nutrient levels indicated that 50, 44, 43, 19 and 18 % of participants had deficiencies of Zn, Fe, vitamins B12 and D, and folate, respectively. The mean number of positive responses to seven recall antigens was 2·1 (sd 1·7) with an induration diameter of 9·9 (sd 7) mm, which are substantially lower than those reported for elders in developed countries. During the previous 6 months, 54 and 21 % of subjects reported at least one episode of respiratory infection or diarrhoea, respectively. Of these, 47 % sought care at a hospital or from a physician and 96 % from a relative or friend. In conclusion, while few elderly Ecuadorians were underweight, obesity was common. Micronutrient deficiencies were prevalent and may contribute to reduced immunological responses in this population.

Exercise training and regular physical activity increase oxidation of fat. Enhanced oxidation of fat is important for preventing lifestyle diseases such as hypertension and obesity. The aim of the present study in rats was to determine whether intake of dietary soya protein and exercise training have an additive effect on the activity and mRNA expression of enzymes involved in skeletal muscle fatty acid oxidation. Male Sprague–Dawley rats (n 32) were assigned randomly into four groups (eight rats per group) and then divided further into sedentary or exercise-trained groups fed either casein or soya protein diets. Rats in the exercise groups were trained for 2 weeks by swimming for 120mi/, 6/eek. Exercise training decreased hepatic triacylglycerol levels and retroperitoneal adipose tissue weight and increased skeletal muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) activity and mRNA expression of CPT1, β-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HAD), acyl-CoA oxidase, PPARγ coactivator 1α (PGC1α) and PPARα. Soya protein significantly decreased hepatic triacylglycerol levels and epididymal adipose tissue weight and increased skeletal muscle CPT1 activity and CPT1, HAD, acyl-CoA oxidase, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, PGC1α and PPARα mRNA levels. Furthermore, skeletal muscle HAD activity was the highest in exercise-trained rats fed soya protein. We conclude that exercise training and soya protein intake have an important additive role on induction of PPAR pathways, leading to increased activity and mRNA expression of enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle and reduced accumulation of body fat.

The formation of SCFA in rats fed fermented oat fibre concentrates was compared with that of rats fed native oat fibre concentrate. The cultures used were lactic acid bacteria consisting of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus (V2), the exopolysaccharide-producing strain Pediococcus damnosus 2.6 (Pd) and L. reuteri (Lr). The materials were incorporated into test diets yielding a concentration of indigestible carbohydrates of 80g/kg (dry weight). Rats fed the V2-fermented fibre-concentrate diet yielded higher caecal and distal concentrations of acetic acid (p<0·01) than rats fed the native fibre concentrate. All the fermented fibre concentrates resulted in a higher propionic acid concentration in the distal colon (p<0·05), while rats fed Pd-fermented fibre concentrate resulted in lower concentration of butyric acid (p<0·05,p <0·01) in all parts of the hindgut as compared with rats fed the native fibre concentrates. Butyrate concentrations ranged between 5–11μmol/g (distal colon) and 6–8;μmol/g (13d faeces). Higher proportions of acetic acid (p<0·05; p<0·01) were observed in the caecum of rats fed the fermented fibre concentrates. Rats fed Pd- and Lr-fermented fibre concentrates produced higher proportions of propionic acid (p<0·05; p<0·01) in the caecum. Changes in SCFA formation in the caecum, distal colon and faeces of rats fed the fermented samples compared with the native sample indicate that these microbes probably survive in the hindgut and that modification of the microflora composition with fermented foods is possible. This may be important for the gastrointestinal flora balance in relation to colonic diseases.