We investigated the effects of various dietary fibers or their likenesses on the apparent fat digestibility by rats fed on a high-fat diet. Each of the 23 different fibers was added at 5% (w/w) to a purified diet containing 20% (w/w) corn oil. The rats were fed these diets for 2 weeks, and the feces were collected from each animal during the last 3 days. When compared to cellulose (control), 10 of the tested fibers significantly increased the fecal lipid excretion. Among these fibers, chitosan markedly increased the fecal lipid excretion and reduced the apparent fat digestibility to about a half relative to the control (see the adjacent table). The apparent protein digestibility was not greatly affected by chitosan. The fatty acid composition of the fecal lipids closely reflected that of the dietary fat. These results suggest that chitosan has potency for interfering with fat digestion and absorption in the intestinal tract, and for facilitating the excretion of dietary fat into the feces.

Effects of Dietary Fibers on Fecal Lipid Excretion

Dietary Fiber	% Fat Excreted
Celllulose (control)	5.1 ±2.1
Chitosan	49.2 ± 21.6
Chitin	4.3 ±1.0
Kapok	8.3 ±1.1
Acacia	4.6 ±0.9
Carrageenan	9.6 ±1.9
Furcellaran	4.4 ±0.9
Guar	6.0 ±1.7
Karaya	4.9 ±1.5
Konjac	5.2 ±0.6
Locust Bean Gum	6/0 ±1.8
Pectin	7.4 ±1.9
Sodium Alginate	8.1 ±2.2

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