The binding of bile salts by vegetable fibre

Abstract

The binding of bile salts by dietary fibre plays an important role in cholesterol metabolism in man. In most of the adsorption studies of bile salts in vitro, the chemical composition of the fibre preparations has not been described, even broadly, nor has the effect of co-precipitated compounds (e.g. proteins) been considered. Hence, it seemed useful to investigate the adsorption of Na cholate (NaC) and Na taurocholate (NaTC) by well-defined cell wall material (CWM) from parenchymatous, lignified and cutinised tissues of mature runner bean pods as well as leeks under a variety of experimental conditions. This study was to identify the groups of polymers which are responsible for adsorption. The results showed dramatic differences in the adsorption characteristics of the wall preparations at different pH values. Some of the findings are reported below.