THIS PROPOSAL RESPONDS TO THE PRIORITY AREA OF THE PROGRAM (A1343) TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF PROCESSING-INDUCED CHANGES IN CARBOHYDRATES AND PROTEINS IN FOODS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON HUMAN GUT MICROBIOTA. THE COMPOSITION OF GUT MICROBIOTA IS INFLUENCED BY UNDIGESTED DIETARY COMPONENTS IN THE SMALL INTESTINE. WE WILL INVESTIGATE AND QUANTIFY HOW THERMAL PROCESSING, MECHANICAL PROCESSING, AND THERMO-MECHANICAL PROCESSING ALTER THE NON-DIGESTIBLE FERMENTABLE CONTENTS (NDFCS) AND UNDIGESTED PROTEINS (UPS) IN WHOLE OATS, WHOLE PINTO BEANS, AND WHOLE LIMA BEANS, AND THEIR IMPACT ON MODULATING THE HUMAN GUT MICROBIOTA. MILLED, EXTRUDED, AND RETORTED AT DIFFERENT PROCESSING CONDITIONS WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN DIFFERENT LEVELS OF NDFCS AND UPS. THE PROCESSED GRAINS WILL BE DIGESTED USING AN IN-VITRO DIGESTION SYSTEM. THE UNDIGESTED PORTIONS WILL BE FERMENTED BY HUMAN MICROBIOTA IN AN IN-VITRO MODEL USING HUMAN FECAL SAMPLES. THE COMPOSITION OF THE HUMAN MICROBIOTA AFTER FERMENTATION WILL BE MAPPED TO ELUCIDATE THEIR RESPONSE TO NDFCS AND UPS. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES ARE:• STUDY THE EFFECTS OF PROCESSING ON WHOLE OAT- AND LEGUME-DERIVED POLYSACCHARIDES AND PROTEINS AND QUANTITATIVELY MODULATE THE NDFCS AND UPS PROFILES OF OATS, PINTO, AND LIMA BEANS BY CONTROLLING PROCESSING CONDITIONS.•INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF NDFCS FROM PROCESSED AND DIGESTED OATS, PINTO BEANS, AND LIMA BEANS ON THE HUMAN GUT MICROBIOTA COMPOSITION AND THE PRODUCTION OF KEY METABOLITES USING AN IN VITRO FERMENTATION MODEL.THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WILL BE USED AS PRELIMINARY DATA TO SUPPORT THE APPLICATIONS OF COMPETITIVE GRANTS WITH CLINICAL STUDIES OR ANIMAL MODELS.

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

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