Temporal changes in postprandial intragastric pH: Comparing measurement methods, food structure effects, and kinetic modelling

Abstract

Intragastric pH greatly affects food disintegration and the release of nutrients in the gut. Here, the behaviour of two liquid meals (soymilk, pea emulsion) and two solid meals (tofu, seitan) was tested in miniature pigs fitted with gastric cannula. For 5 h, intragastric pH was recorded using one of three methods: ex vivo measurements of chyme samples, in situ measurements using pH catheters, or in situ measurements using wireless pH capsules, both inserted through a pig's cannula. The pH values obtained with the two in situ methods were highly correlated. The liquid and solid foods yielded distinct pH kinetics. For the solids, pH simply decreased exponentially. For the liquids, pH increased rapidly and then plateaued for 2 h before dropping Food macrostructure and, to a lesser extent, food buffering capacity clearly had an impact on intragastric pH. We modelled changes in intragastric pH over time with food-dependent nonlinear equations.