| Summary: | As the largest immune organ of the human body, the intestine also plays a vital role in nutrient digestion and absorption. Some vegetables are considered to have improvement effects on the intestine. This experiment explored the effects of freeze-dried asparagus, broccoli and cabbage powder on the intestinal immune homeostasis and microflora of mice. Thirty-two mice were divided into four groups (<i>n</i> = 8), including control group (fed normal diet), asparagus group (fed normal diet with 5% asparagus power), broccoli group (fed normal diet with 5% broccoli power) and cabbage group (fed normal diet with 5% cabbage power). The experiment lasted 21 days. The results showed that the serum immunoglobulin concentration (IgA and IgM) and intestinal cytokine content (like IFN-γ and TNF-α) were increased after vegetable powder supplement. The experiment also detected that vegetable powder supplementation changed intestinal flora and their metabolites (short-chain fatty acid), which showed that the abundance of <i>Lachnospiraceae</i> and <i>Bacteroides</i> were decreased, while the abundance of <i>Firmicutes</i> and <i>Lactobacillus</i> as well as propionic acid and butyric acid contents were increased. Together, these vegetable powders, especially cabbage, changed the intestinal immune response and microbial activity of mice.
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