Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the effect of cellulose nanocrystals from sweet potato residue on intestinal morphology
and environment in rats fed with high fat diet. Methods: Forty mature male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into five
groups. One group was fed with basic forage as control group (CON). The other four groups including model control (MC),
ordinary cellulose (OC), microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) groups were fed with high fat
diet supplemented with dietary fibers of different particle sizes. All rats were sacrificed after 28 days of feeding to assay the
area of cecum, the content of water, pH and short chain fatty acids in cecum contents, the dry weight of faeces and small
intestine, the total bile acid and morphology of small intestine. Results: cellulose nanocrystals could reduce body weight
in rats and the concentration of free ammonia in the cecum, and raise all the tested cecum tissue indexes, the concentration
of short chain fatty acids and pH of cecum contents and the total bile acid of small intestine significantly (P < 0.05). The
cellulose nanocrystals also could increase the small intestinal villus length and muscle layer thickness. Conclusion: Dietary
sweet potato fiber of lower granularity can promote rat intestinal environment, suggesting that cellulose nanocrystals from
sweet potato residue can effectively reduce body weight and improve the intestinal health.

Key words: cellulose nanocrystals from sweet potato residue, high fat diet, cecum, short chain fatty acids, intestinal morphology