Investigating the response of the butyrate production potential to major fibers in dietary intervention studies.

Interventions involving dietary fibers are known to benefit host health. A leading contribution of gut microbiota is commonly recognized with production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) suspected to play a key role. However, the detailed mechanisms are largely unknown, and apart from a well-described bifidogenic effect of some fibers, results for other bacterial taxa are often incongruent between studies.