Microbial Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production and Extracellular Enzymes Activities during in Vitro Fermentation of Polysaccharides from the Seeds of Plantago asiatica L. Treated with Microwave Irradiation

Abstract

Effects of microwave irradiation on microbial short-chain fatty acid production and the activites of extracellular enzymes during in vitro fermentation of the polysaccharide from Plantago asiatica L. were investigated in this study. It was found that the apparent viscosity, average molecular weight, and particle size of the polysaccharide decreased after microwave irradiation. Reducing sugar amount increased with molecular weight decrease, suggesting the degradation may derive from glycosidic bond rupture. The polysaccharide surface topography was changed from large flakelike structure to smaller chips. FT-IR showed that microwave irradiation did not alter the primary functional groups in the polysaccharide. However, short-chain fatty acid productions of the polysaccharide during in vitro fermentation significantly increased after microwave irradiation. Activities of microbial extracellular enzymes xylanase, arabinofuranosidase, xylosidase, and glucuronidase in fermentation cultures supplemented with microwave irradiation treated polysaccharide were also generally higher than those of untreated polysaccharide. This showed that microwave irradiation could be a promising degradation method for the production of value-added polysaccharides.