PREVENTIVE EFFECT OF GERMINATED BARLEY FOODSTUFF ON DIARRHEA INDUCED BY WATER-SOLUBLE DIETARY FIBER IN RATS

We investigated the preventive effect of germinated barley foodstuff ( GBF) added to the diet on diarrhea induced by the dietary water-solubl e dietary fibers, polydextrose, hemicellulose, and poly-acrylic acid s odium salt, in Sprague-Dawley rats, The minimum content of GBF necessa ry for blocking diarrhea was 3% (by weight) of the diet, Since GBF is mainly derived from the aleurone and scutellum of malted barley, we as sessed the physiological effects of the aleurone and scutellum fractio ns derived from barley grains before and after germination, The additi on of fractions containing only germinated barley, and not barley coll ected before germination, increased the fecal output and jejunal mucos al protein content, The effects of malted barley were very similar to those of GBF, It was concluded that germination was necessary to bring about the physiological effects of GBF, Since non-lignified hemicellu lose and Gin-rich protein were newly synthesized during germination, t hese might have contributed to the increased fecal output and jejunal mucosal protein content.