Table 2. Weight gain, weight of caecal content, tissue, liver and spleen (g) and caecal pH in rats fed the four test diets with low-fat or high-fat content for 2 weeks (means ± SEM, n = 7).

Fat	Diet	Weight gain (g)	Caecal content (g)	Caecal tissue (g)	Caecal pH	Liver weight (g)	Spleen weight (g)
Low	Fibre-free	59±2	1.4±0.1a	0.6±0.02a	6.9±0.11	8.3±0.3	0.58±0.04
	Pectin	58±3	3.2±0.3b	0.8±0.04b	7.0±0.05	7.1±0.5	0.59±0.2
	Guar gum	61±3	3.8±0.3bc	1.0±0.04c	7.0±0.08	7.6±0.3	0.58±0.03
	Mixture	60±3	2.8±0.3b	0.9±0.04bc	7.1±0.04	7.1±0.1	0.59±0.02
High	Fibre-free	78±4a **	1.7±0.1a	0.7±0.03a	7.1±0.06	10.6±0.4*	0.64±0.03
	Pectin	62±4b	2.9±0.4ab	1.1±0.08b *	7.0±0.1	8.6±0.3	0.58±0.03
	Guar gum	73±2	4.3±0.6b	1.1±0.06b	7.2±0.07	9.5±0.3*	0.58±0.02
	Mixture	68±4	4.5±0.5b *	1.2±0.09b *	6.9±0.1	9.6±0.6***	0.61±0.02

^a,b,cMean values within a column, for different fat levels, with unlike superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05).

Mean values were significantly different from those of rats fed the corresponding low-fat diet: * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, ***P<0.001.

1 n = 5.