# Effects of NatureKnit™ organic, a blend of organic fruit and vegetable fibers rich in naturally occurring bound polyphenols, on the metabolic activity and community composition of the human gut microbiome using the M-SHIME® gastrointestinal model

## TL;DR

This study shows that NatureKnit™ Organic, a blend of organic fibers, may act as a gentle prebiotic by boosting gut bacteria and SCFA production more effectively than purified fibers.

## Contribution

The study introduces NatureKnit™ Organic as a novel prebiotic fiber blend with distinct fermentation and microbial enrichment properties.

## Key findings

- NatureKnit™ Organic increased SCFA production significantly more than purified fibers and the control.
- NatureKnit™ Organic increased bacterial species richness and luminal bacterial abundance compared to the control.
- The blend enriched specific genera like Eisenbergiella and Bacteroidaceae more than other fibers.

## Abstract

The effects of a proprietary blend of organic fruit and vegetable fibers rich in naturally occurring bound polyphenols (commercially known as NatureKnit™ Organic) on the human gut microbiome were assessed.

Short-term (48 h) in vitro colonic simulations using the validated Mucosal Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (M-SHIME®) platform, with fecal inoculum from nine individual healthy human donors, were performed. Purified organic fibers (inulin and psyllium) were evaluated as comparators and a negative control was included. Primary measures included pH, gas pressure, short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production, and microbial community composition.

All test products were well fermented with NatureKnit™ Organic showing slower fermentation kinetics than the purified fibers. SCFAs were significantly increased with all test products versus the negative control (p < 0.0001 for all) and NatureKnit™ Organic reached significance versus both purified fibers (p < 0.0001 for both). While relative abundances in the mucosal compartment were similar among all test conditions, luminal bacterial abundance increased with NatureKnit™ Organic and psyllium versus the negative control. The latter was mainly associated with statistically increased abundance (p < 0.05) of the genera Eisenbergiella and Monoglobus, with an additional strong enrichment of Bacteroidaceae. Furthermore, bacterial species richness was significantly increased with NatureKnit™ Organic versus the negative control (p = 0.0495), which was not observed for the purified organic fibers (p = 0.0567 and p = 0.4285 for inulin and psyllium, respectively).

Overall, the obtained results indicate that NatureKnit™ Organic may have a greater and gentler prebiotic effect compared with established purified prebiotic fibers.