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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Functional Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #402061
Research Project: Improved Processes and Technologies for Comprehensive Utilization of Specialty Grains in Functional Food Production for Digestive Health and Food Waste Reduction

Location: Functional Foods Research

Title: The role of Megasphaera elsdenii, a commensal member of the gut microbiota, in gas production during in vitro fermentation

Author
item MUTUYEMUNGU, ERASME - University Of Nebraska
item MOTTA-ROMERO, HOLLMAN - University Of Nebraska
item YANG, QINNAN - University Of Nebraska
item Liu, Sean
item Singh, Mukti
item ROSE, DEVIN - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2023
Publication Date: 12/21/2023
Citation: Mutuyemungu, E., Motta-Romero, H., Yang, Q., Liu, S.X., Singh, M., Rose, D. 2023. The role of Megasphaera elsdenii, a commensal member of the gut microbiota, in gas production during in vitro fermentation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmb.2023.18.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/gmb.2023.18

Interpretive Summary: This research showed that Megasphaera elsdenii in the presence of kidney beans produced significantly less gas in comparison to sweet potatoes. Flatulence (gas production and bloating) associated with eating beans is a significant barrier to its consumption in the western world. M. elsdenii, one of the good gut bacteria, was shown to be related to gas production in humans. We determined the role of M. elsdenii in gas production during digestion of kidney beans in comparison to sweet potatoes in humans. We found that M. elsdenii in the presence of other good bacteria in the gut can produce higher gas rates when digesting gas-producing components of sweet potatoes and kidney beans. But the gas production when digesting kidney beans was significantly less than sweet potatoes. This information is vital to food product development, nutritional supplement manufacturers, nutritionists, and the medical community to promote utilization of pulses and mitigate the stigma associated with their consumption.

Technical Abstract: Previously, we found that Megasphaera elsdenii was correlated with gas production during fermentation of pulses. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the role of M. elsdenii in gas production by the microbiome during fermentation of kidney beans and sweet potatoes—two foods commonly associated with gas production and bloating. The fecal microbiomes with detectable M. elsdenii (Me_D) produced significantly more gas than the microbiomes with no detectable M. elsdenii (Me_ND) (kidney beans: 14.0±2.3 mL versus 10.1±0.7 mL, p<0.001; sweet potatoes: 23.0±0.9 mL versus 7.76±0.84 mL, p<0.001). Me_D microbiomes treated with sweet potatoes produced significantly more gas than those treated with kidney beans (p<0.001), while the opposite was true for the Me_ND microbiomes (p<0.001). Among amplicon sequence variants that were significantly associated with gas production, M. elsdenii had the strongest association (p<0.001). Me_D microbiomes consumed more acetate and produced more butyrate than Me_ND microbiomes. The monoculture of one M. elsdenii isolate produced gas directly on sweet potatoes (blank: 6.00±0.20 mL versus 8.18±0.12 mL, p<0.001); however, gas production was higher on acetate (9.10±0.24 mL, p=0.004 versus potatoes) and highest on sweet potatoes plus acetate (10.00±0.20 mL, p<0.001 versus potatoes). This study suggests that M. elsdenii may be involved in high gas production during fermentation of flatulogenic foods. Furthermore, M. elsdenii is capable of producing gas directly from flatulogenic foods, but produced more gas through cross-feeding on acetate.