Arioglu-Tuncil Seda
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Necmettin Erbakan University Konya Türkiye.
Food Sci Nutr. 2025 May 2;13(5):e70243. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.70243. eCollection 2025 May.
Flaxseed ( L.) and chia seed ( L.) have become increasingly popular in the design of various functional food products. However, information on their functional properties is scarce. The aim of this study is to comparatively evaluate the effects of the dietary fibers (DFs) of flaxseed and chia seed on colonic microbiota composition and metabolic outputs. The neutral and acidic monosaccharide compositions of DFs of flaxseed and chia seed were determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and spectrophotometer, respectively. Next, in vitro fecal fermentation assays were applied, and samples were collected at different time points for short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) measurements using GC, and fecal microbiota changes before and after fermentation were evaluated through 16S rRNA sequencing. The results revealed that DFs of flaxseed were dominated by xylose and uronic acid moieties, while that of chia seed was dominated by glucose units, indicating that their DFs are structurally different. Higher SCFA generations were observed in the case of flaxseed, suggesting that flaxseed DFs are more readily fermentable by gut microbiota. Flaxseed and chia seed DFs differentially impacted the microbiota compositions at the OTU level; for example, significant increases in the relative abundances of and related OTUs, which are known to be propionate producers, were observed in the case of flaxseed, but not chia seed. Interestingly, flaxseed, but not chia seed, DFs suppressed the growth of some pathogenic bacteria. Overall, this study suggests that the functionality of flaxseed and chia seed DFs in relation to colonic microbiota may differ, with flaxseed being more readily fermented and potentially promoting beneficial microbes to a greater extent. Thus, flaxseed could hold promise for developing functional food recipes aimed at supporting colonic health.
亚麻籽（L.）和奇亚籽（L.）在各种功能性食品的设计中越来越受欢迎。然而，关于它们功能特性的信息却很少。本研究的目的是比较评估亚麻籽和奇亚籽膳食纤维（DFs）对结肠微生物群组成和代谢产物的影响。分别使用气相色谱/质谱联用仪（GC/MS）和分光光度计测定了亚麻籽和奇亚籽DFs的中性和酸性单糖组成。接下来，进行体外粪便发酵试验，并在不同时间点采集样品，用气相色谱法测量短链脂肪酸（SCFA），通过16S rRNA测序评估发酵前后粪便微生物群的变化。结果表明，亚麻籽的DFs以木糖和糖醛酸部分为主，而奇亚籽的DFs以葡萄糖单元为主，这表明它们的DFs在结构上有所不同。在亚麻籽组中观察到更高的SCFA生成量，这表明亚麻籽DFs更容易被肠道微生物群发酵。亚麻籽和奇亚籽的DFs在OTU水平上对微生物群组成有不同影响；例如，在亚麻籽组中观察到与丙酸产生菌相关的OTU相对丰度显著增加，而在奇亚籽组中未观察到。有趣的是，亚麻籽的DFs抑制了一些病原菌的生长，而奇亚籽的DFs则没有。总体而言，本研究表明，亚麻籽和奇亚籽DFs与结肠微生物群相关的功能可能不同，亚麻籽更容易被发酵，并可能在更大程度上促进有益微生物的生长。因此，亚麻籽有望用于开发旨在支持结肠健康的功能性食品配方。
