Fibers from flaxseed and co-products from ethanol production could be potential sources of dietary fiber in human diet. In vitro fermentation and bile acid binding models were used to investigate the metabolic effects of lignaMax (Bioriginal Food and Science Corp., Saskatoon, SK, Canada) flax meal, spent flax meal, soluble flax gum, wheat insoluble fiber (WIF), and rye insoluble fiber (RIF). Wheat and rye bran were used as reference samples. Bile acid binding of substrates was analysed at taurocholate ([(14)C]taurocholate) concentration of 12.5 mM. Soluble flax gum showed the highest bile acid binding (0.57 micromol/mg of fiber) (P <or= .05). There was no difference in bile acid binding between wheat bran (0.2 micromol/mg of fiber) and WIF (0.26 micromol/mg of fiber). RIF had higher (P <or= .05) bile acid binding (0.20 micromol/mg of fiber) than rye bran (0.13 micromol/mg of fiber). Substrates were hydrolyzed and incubated with pig fecal samples. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profile and gas accumulation (G(f)) were compared. Soluble flax gum generated the highest amount of acetic and propionic acids. SCFA profiles of wheat/rye brans and WIF/RIF were similar (except for butyric acid). G(f) for soluble flax gum was greater (P < .001) than that of spent flax meal. G(f) values of the wheat samples were similar, whereas the G(f) of the rye bran was higher (P < .001) than that of RIF. Fractional degradation rate (micro(t = T/2)) (P < .001) was also recorded. The highest mu(t = T/2) was observed for the soluble flax gum. Oil-depleted flaxseed fractions and WIF/RIF (co-products from ethanol production) could be potential sources of dietary fiber in human nutrition.

Two experiments were undertaken to investigate the influence of (1) pig bodyweight and (2) dietary fibre content of the diet on the in vitro gas production of sugar beet pulp fibre using faecal inoculum.In the first experiment, inocula prepared from young pigs (Y; 16-50 kg), growing pigs (G; 62-93 kg) and sows (S; 216-240 kg) were compared. Sugar beet pulp, hydrolysed in vitro with pepsin and then pancreatin, was used as the fermentation substrate. The cumulated gas productions over 144h were modelled and the kinetics parameters compared. Lag times (Y: 4.6h; G: 6.4h; S: 9.2h) and half-times to asymptote (Y: 14.7h; G: 15.9h; S: 20.8h) increased with pig bodyweight (P < 0.001) and the fractional degradation rates of the substrate differed between the pig categories (Y: 0.110 h(-1); G: 0.115 h(-1); S: 0.100 h(-1); P < 0.001). The final gas production was not affected (P=0.10) by the inoculum Source.In the second experiment hydrolysed sugar beet pulp was fermented with four inocula prepared from pigs fed diets differing in their total and soluble dietary fibre contents, i.e. low fibre diet rich in soluble fibre (LOW-S) or in insoluble fibre (LOW-I) or high fibre diet rich in soluble fibre (HIGHS) or in insoluble fibre (HIGH-I). The total and the soluble dietary fibres influenced the kinetics of gas production. The presence of soluble fibres decreased the lag times, whatever the total dietary fibre content (2.7 h for LOW-S versus 3.5 h for LOW-I, 4.0 h for HIGH-S versus 4.4 h for HIGH-I; P < 0.001). The half-times to asymptote were higher with the low fibre diets (P < 0.001) and, for similar total dietary fibre contents, they were lower when the proportion of soluble fibres increased (LOW-S: 9.9 h; LOW-I: 11.4 h; HIGH-S: 8.9 h; HIGH-I: 10.1 h; P < 0.001). The fractional degradation rates of the substrate were the highest with the fibre-rich diet containing a high proportion of soluble fibres (0.158 h(-1); P < 0.001).In conclusion, the bodyweight of the faeces donors and the dietary fibre composition of the pig diet influence the in vitro fermentation kinetics of hydrolysed sugar beet pulp, but not the final gas production. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The work aimed to determine the apparent and true ileal digestibility of the amino acids of tropical tree foliage (Trichanthera gigantea) or aquatic plant (Azolla filucoides) in pigs. The incorporation of 100 or 200 g/kg of either tree foliage or aquatic plant in the pig diet significantly reduced both ileal and fecal digestibilities of the dietary nitrogen and amino acids of the diets (P < 0.05). The results are discussed according to the pig digestive physiology and the forage properties.