Abstract
Weinstein and Weiss 1 reported that banana, apple and raisins when fed to white rats subsisting on a high-protein diet consisting solely of raw chopped lean beef are able to bring about a change in the intestinal flora from a type in which non-aciduric bacteria predominate to one in which L. acidophilus is the outstanding organism. It was our purpose in the work presented here to further enlarge the group of fruits studied and to determine to what extent the ability to alter the intestinal flora is a general property of the fruit family or whether it is limited to certain members.
The bacteriological methods and feeding procedures used in the experiments to be described here are the same as those reported previously by Weinstein and Weiss. All of the animals were fed 12 gm. of lean chopped beef daily until repeated stool examinations revealed the absence of L. acidophilus from the intestine. At this time the fruit to be tested was added to the meat diet of one group of animals in 4 gm. amounts daily and 6 gm. to the diet of another group. Periodic fecal examinations were made and the L. acidophilus content of the feces determined.
The fruits used were cranberry, strawberry and tomato, supplied to us in the dehydrated form by a commercial concern engaged in their preparation.
Ten rats were fed cranberry-powder. One group of 5 rats received 12 gm. of meat plus 4 gm. of the powder; another was fed 12 gm. of meat with 6 gm. of the dried fruit. Two rats were used as controls; they subsisted on a diet of lean chopped beef with no added carbohydrate. Four of the 5 rats receiving 4 gm. of dried fruit underwent a change in their intestinal flora after 2 weeks of feeding.
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