The Institute of Food Research(UK)scientists have built an artificial stomach to simulate human digestion.They hope it will aid the development of new superfoods by revealing how they are broken down in the gut.
The device is made from sophisticated plastics and metals, can withstand the corrosive gut acids and enzymes, and can be fed real food. It mimics both the physical and chemical reactions that take place during digestion.It even mimics the stomach contractions which are used to break up food, and send it on its way along the alimentary canal. Chief designer Dr Martin Wickham said his model was much more sophisticated.Dr Wickham hopes his model will help scientists understand more about how food gets processed in the gut, and which nutrients get absorbed.
What others said
Dr Peter Ellis, a biochemistry expert at King’s College London, said: “This is an important tool that will allow us to understand what happens in the gut, which has essentially been like a black box until recently”.Dr Stephen Bloom, head of metabolic medicine at Imperial College in London, agreed the model could be useful – but warned that it might have limitations. He said: “The stomach is an extraordinarily complex organ, so you cannot create a model that will undertake all of these functions.”
How it works
The artificial gut acts as a two stage model. The top half of the model consists of a vessel in which food, stomach acids and digestive enzymes are mixed. Once this hydration process is finished, the food gets broken down into smaller pieces that can absorbed by the human body. Computer software is used to control how long food remains in a particular part of the stomach, and the release of the gut secretions. It has the capacity of about half the size of an actual stomach, and can “eat” the equivalent of a normal portion of fish and chips. The artificial gut is already attracting commercial attention.
Source
BBC