Consumption of young barley leaf extract increases fecal short-chain fatty acid levels: A before-after clinical trial

Abstract

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) bacterially produced in the intestine provide a variety of physiological effects for the host. The present before-after clinical trial was conducted to investigate the effects of young barley leaf extract (YBL) on fecal SCFA levels. For 4 weeks, female health subjects were asked to ingest two sticks (8 g) of test sample daily. Feces were collected before and after the period of treatment with YBL. Results demonstrated that YBL significantly elevated the fecal concentrations of acetate from 23.6±7.5 to 36.4±8.1 Μmol/g (p<0.001) and propionate from 10.0±5.2 to 13.6±7.1 Μmol/g (p<0.05) but, did not give an advantage in fecal bacterial composition. Interestingly, YBL also raised the fecal moisture by 3.9% point from the baseline (p<0.05).