| Summary: | The effects of cooked lean pork batters with three ionic types of polysaccharides (anionic xanthan-gum/sodium-alginate, neutral curdlan-gum/konjac-gum and cationic chitosan) on the intestinal health of mice were investigated in this study. The results showed that the zeta potential in the sodium-alginate group (−31.35 mV) was higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) than that in the chitosan group (−26.00 mV), thus promoting the protein hydrolysis in the anionic group because of electrostatic repulsion. The content of total free amino acids in the small intestine in the xanthan-gum and sodium-alginate groups (2754.68 μg and 2733.72 μg, respectively) were higher (<i>p</i> < 0.05) than that in the chitosan group (1949.78 μg), which could decrease the amount of undigested protein entering the colon. The two anionic groups could also increase the abundance of <i>Lactobacillus</i> and the balance of <i>Faecalibaculum</i> and <i>Alistipes</i> in the colon. The content of proinflammatory factor IL−6 of colon tissues in the sodium-alginate group (1.02 ng/mL) was lower (<i>p</i> < 0.05) than that in chitosan, curdlan-gum and konjac-gum groups (1.29, 1.31 and 1.31 ng/mL, respectively). The result of haematoxylin-eosin staining of the colon also revealed that sodium alginate was beneficial for colonic health. The two neutral groups increased the content of faecal short-chain fatty acids in mice. These results demonstrated that anionic polysaccharides have potential for developing functional low-fat meat products.
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