Resistant starch

Dietary fiber

Food science

Biochemistry

Butyrate

Gut flora

Propionate

Biology

Prebiotic

Starch

Metabolism

Fermentation

Computational biology

Microbiome

Short-chain fatty acid

Gut microbiome

Genetics

Cell Host & Microbe

Deehan et al. show that chemically modified resistant starches with small structural differences induce divergent and highly specific effects on the gut microbiome that direct changes in the output of either propionate or butyrate. Dominant effects were remarkably consistent within treatment groups and dose-dependent with a plateau at 35 g.

Precision Microbiome Modulation with Discrete Dietary Fiber Structures Directs Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production