Improvement in intestinal function and health by the peel fibre derived from Citrus sinensis L cv Liucheng

The water‐insoluble fibre‐rich fraction (WIFF) was isolated from the peel of Citrus sinensis L cv Liucheng in an economical way. The influences of a WIFF‐containing diet on the intestinal function and health in hamsters were investigated and compared with those of cellulose‐added and fibre‐free diets. Our results showed that the inclusion of WIFF in a fibre‐free diet might result in some significant improvements in serum, intestinal, caecal and faecal parameters, such as elevated serum alkaline phosphatase activity (127%), increased intestinal maltase and sucrase activities (180 and 164% respectively), decreased caecal pH (6.30), reduced caecal and faecal ammonia contents (by 25.4 and 34.1% respectively) and decreased activities of faecal β‐D‐glucosidase (by 48.1%), β‐D‐glucuronidase (by 52.9%) and urease (by 81.5%). These results suggested that the incorporation of WIFF in the diet at a level of 50 g kg−1 might exert a favourable effect on intestinal function and health. Accordingly, WIFF could be exploited as a potential functional ingredient in human diets and also offer industries an opportunity to develop new formulations of fibre‐rich functional foods.