The study reports increases in the relative abundances of phyla Bacteriodetes and Actinobacteria, and the corresponding genera Prevotella and Bifidobacterium with BARLEYMAX®. There was also a decrease in pH, an increase in short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and a decrease in alpha-diversity consistent with previous studies. CPP (cocoa polyphenols) significantly increased the alpha-diversity.
BARLEYMAX® also caused an increase in the relative abundance in genus Lactobacillus.
On the other hand, BARLEYMAX® and CPP supressed ammonia-nitrogen production. Both substrates also decreased the abundance of genus Clostridum, known as an ammonia producer. In this study the concentration of ammonia-nitrogen was positively correlated with the abundance of Clostrium.spp. Ammonia is regarded as toxic and the report cites a study linking ammonia production and tumorigenesis in the colon as opposed to the SCFA which are generally regarded as inhibitory to such tumorigenesis.
