Journal of Nutraceuticals and Food Science

Abstract

Diets influence the composition of gut microbial-derived short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). A high linear chain SCFAs contents in the Mediterranean and vegetarian diets have demonstrated health benefits. However, branched-chain SCFAs produced in the high fat diet are detrimental to colon health. The information on dietary fats on SCFAs in healthy adults following a regular Malaysian diet is lacking.  We investigated the changes of SCFAs in adults (n=32) fed on three different dietary fats (A, B, and C) for 16 weeks. Diet A contained high saturated fats (SFA) but low in unsaturated fat (UFA), while Diet B has similar contents of SFA and UFA, and Diet C has low SFA but high UFA. SCFAs were extracted using mechanical and chemical reactions and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS).