Table 1.
Faecal bifidobacteria and total anaerobe counts (m ± SEM, log cfu/g) in 40 healthy volunteers assigned to a 7-d consumption of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) at a dose from 2.5 to 10 g/d or a placebo
| scFOS dose (g/d) | Total anaerobes | Bifidobacteria | ||||||
| d8* | d15* | Δd15-d8 | P** | d8* | d15* | Δ d15-d8 | P** | |
| 0 (placebo) | 12.59 ± 0.17 | 12.54 ± 0.12 | - 0.05 ± 0.16 | *** | 10.06 ± 0.29 | 9.57 ± 0.21 | - 0.49 ± 0.23 | *** |
| 2.5 | 12.32 ± 0.21 | 12.55 ± 0.14 | + 0.22 ± 0.19 | 0.29 | 9.15 ± 0.59 | 9.39 ± 0.70 | + 0.24 ± 0.16 | 0.02 |
| 5.0 | 12.48 ± 0.18 | 12.66 ± 0.14 | + 0.17 ± 0.28 | 0.51 | 10.21 ± 0.21 | 10.67 ± 0.22 | + 0.46 ± 0.31 | 0.03 |
| 7.5 | 12.45 ± 0.16 | 12.55 ± 0.13 | + 0.09 ± 0.06 | 0.42 | 9.28 ± 0.49 | 9.85 ± 0.35 | + 0.57 ± 0.25 | 0.01 |
| 10 | 11.65 ± 0.37 | 12.68 ± 0.14 | + 1.04 ± 0.41 | 0.03 | 9.00 ± 0.81 | 10.18 ± 0.60 | + 1.18 ± 0.42 | 0.003 |
*days 1–8 was a run-in period during which no treatment occurred, but subjects excluded from their diet fermented dairy products containing viable bifidobacteria and limited consumption of food products containing high level of non-digestible oligosaccharides.
** Statistical analyses were performed versus placebo, on the difference d15-d8, using an unpaired t-test
*** As the difference days 15-8 with placebo was the reference, p-values are not reported.