Enzyme-treated corn starch and gut fermentation in lab tests
What it found
In lab tests, corn starch treated with different enzymes changed how gut bacteria fermented it and which fatty acids they made.
Starch treated with amyloglucosidase led to the most short-chain and branched-chain fatty acids.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Starch digestibility
Enzyme treatment changed how much starch was digested in lab tests. Starch treated with cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase and containing hydrolysis products was the most digestible, even more than untreated starch.
Gelatinization effect
Gelatinizing the starches before digestion made them even more digestible. This was especially true for the cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase-treated starch with hydrolysis products.
Short-chain fatty acids
During fecal fermentation, total short-chain fatty acids, acetate, and propionate rose quickly in the first 8 hours, then slowed. At the end, starch treated with amyloglucosidase produced more propionate and butyrate than the other starches.
Branched-chain fatty acids
Branched-chain fatty acids stayed low for the first 12 hours, then increased. Gelatinized samples produced more than non-gelatinized ones. Amyloglucosidase-treated starch led to the highest levels at 24 hours.
Microbial activity
The higher fatty acid production from amyloglucosidase-treated starch suggests it provided more fermentable carbohydrates to the gut bacteria. This may support beneficial bacteria that produce butyrate.
What the authors conclude
- They say that amyloglucosidase-treated starch led to more short-chain fatty acid production and greater use of polysaccharides by human fecal bacteria.
- They suggest that modifying starch with enzymes could lead to higher butyrate and propionate production, which may improve gut health.
- They advise that future studies should test how amyloglucosidase-treated starch works as an ingredient in food products.
How it was done
Enzymatically modified starches are used in food products, but little was known about how they are digested and fermented by gut bacteria. The authors wanted to understand how these structural changes affect fermentation and the metabolites produced.
They treated corn starch with three enzymes (alpha-amylase, amyloglucosidase, or cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase), then digested the starches in lab tests that mimic stomach and small intestine conditions. The digested starches were then fermented in lab tests with fecal samples from three healthy people, and fatty acid production was measured over 24 hours.
What it can’t tell you
- These are lab tests using fecal samples, not studies in living people. They cannot show what happens in the human gut.
- The fermentation was done outside the body, so it does not reflect the full complexity of digestion and gut bacteria in a person.
- The study used fecal samples from only three healthy people, so results may not apply to everyone.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), Spain; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States
The paper
- Title
- Enzymatic Modification of Corn Starch Influences Human Fecal Fermentation Profiles
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Dura A, Rose DJ, Rosell CM (2017). Enzymatic Modification of Corn Starch Influences Human Fecal Fermentation Profiles. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.7b01634Free full textPubMed 28553713DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error