Mondo Knows Facts
Colon bacteria turn fibre into short-chain fatty acids
Fermentation produces butyrate, propionate and acetate that feed the gut lining Human enzymes cannot digest most plant fibre, so it reaches the colon intact. There, microbial fermentation breaks it into short-chain fatty acids. Butyrate is the preferred fuel of colon cells, and these acids also influence appetite and immune signalling. It sits in Mondo's human body collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Tags: microbiome, fibre, fermentation
Colon bacteria turn fibre into short-chain fatty acids: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Fermentation produces butyrate, propionate and acetate that feed the gut lining. The figure is taken from NIDDK, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a human body fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Human Body shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.