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Gas production in humans ingesting a soybean flour derived from beans naturally low in oligosaccharides^1,2,3

Background: Ingestion of soy products may cause excessive intestinal gas. This gas results from colonic bacterial fermentation of the indigestible oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose, which are present in high concentrations in legumes.

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare gas production and gaseous symptoms in healthy volunteers after ingestion of 34 and 80 g soy flour made from either conventional soybeans or soybeans naturally low in indigestible oligosaccharides.

Design: In a double-blind, randomized, crossover protocol, breath hydrogen (an indicator of carbohydrate malabsorption), flatus frequency, and abdominal symptoms were assessed after subjects ingested the soy products and after 2 control meals (rice or lactose-hydrolyzed milk).

Results: The sum of breath-hydrogen concentrations for 8 h was significantly greater (P < 0.005) after 34 g conventional soy (60.4 ± 9.4 ppm) than after low-oligosaccharide soy (34.3 ± 8.1 ppm). Greater differences were observed with 80-g doses: 157.9 ± 19.4 ppm after conventional soy and 50.8 ± 6.8 ppm after low-oligosaccharide soy (P < 0.001). Flatus frequency (7.5 ± 1.9 times/12 h) was significantly greater (P = 0.039) after ingestion of 80 g conventional soy than after the control, rice meal (3.2 ± 0.8 times/12 h), whereas flatus frequency after the low-oligosaccharide soy meal (3.9 ± 0.7 times/12 h) was comparable with that after the rice meal. There were no significant differences in the severity of other abdominal symptoms.

Conclusion: Soy flour derived from low-oligosaccharide soybeans resulted in less gas production than that derived from conventional soybeans.

Key Words: Soy flour • low-oligosaccharide soybeans • breath-hydrogen concentration • gaseous symptoms • humans • raffinose • stachyose

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