Mango bar fiber and gut bacteria in lab tests
What it found
In lab tests, the indigestible part of a mango-based bar changed the mix of gut bacteria, increasing several groups and boosting predicted carbohydrate metabolism.
The authors say human studies are needed to confirm any benefit.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Bacteria groups increased
In lab tests, the mango bar fiber increased the presence of Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Eubacterium, Fusicatenibacter, Holdemanella, Catenibacterium, Phascolarctobacterium, Buttiauxella, Bifidobacterium, Collinsella, Prevotella and Bacteroides.
Diversity dropped early
Microbial diversity dropped after 6 hours of fermentation in the mango bar and positive control samples, then gradually recovered by 48 hours.
UV-C made no difference
The analysis found no difference between the irradiated and non-irradiated mango bar samples.
Carbohydrate metabolism boosted
The mango bar samples increased the predicted carbohydrate metabolism pathway of the gut bacteria.
Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio
The mango bar samples increased the Bacteroidetes phylum and decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio.
What the authors conclude
“This study suggests that IF of mango-based bar induced beneficial changes on microbial ecology and metabolic pathway that could be promissory to prevention or treatment of metabolic dysbiosis.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the indigestible fraction of the mango-based bar favored the growth of several bacteria groups linked to fiber fermentation and beneficial metabolites.
- They conclude that the mango bar increased carbohydrate metabolism pathways and could help restore gut balance.
- They advise that these findings need to be confirmed in human studies.
How it was done
The authors wanted to know how the indigestible fraction of a mango-based bar affects the gut bacteria and their metabolic output, since this was not known.
They isolated the indigestible fraction from a mango-based bar, both UV-C irradiated and non-irradiated, and fermented it in lab tests with fecal samples from three healthy volunteers for up to 48 hours. They also ran a positive control with raffinose and a negative control without any added substrate.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a lab test using fecal samples, not a study in people, so it cannot show what happens inside the human gut.
- The metabolic predictions are based on computer analysis, not direct measurement of what the bacteria actually do.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Tecnológico Nacional de México; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University Complutense of Madrid, Spain; Pharmacobiology Experimental Laboratory, Mexico
The paper
- Title
- Changes in Intestinal Microbiota and Predicted Metabolic Pathways During Colonic Fermentation of Mango ( Mangifera indica L.)-Based Bar Indigestible Fraction
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Gutiérrez-Sarmiento W, Sáyago-Ayerdi SG, Goñi I, et al (2020). Changes in Intestinal Microbiota and Predicted Metabolic Pathways During Colonic Fermentation of Mango ( Mangifera indica L.)-Based Bar Indigestible Fraction. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu12030683Free full textPubMed 32138281DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error