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This study aimed to explore the alliin, saccharides, antioxidant and some other physicochemical changes of black garlic during the thermal processing steps. The contents of alliin and polysaccharides decreased significantly after 10 days of heat treatment, whereas the content of reducing sugars increased correspondingly. The 57.14% of fructose, 6.78% of glucose and 7.62% of sucrose were mainly saccharides in black garlic to answer for its sweet taste. The color value of black garlic increased over time, whereas the pH decreased continually from 6.25 to 4.25 after heating at 70-80C for 10 days, which contributed a characteristic black appearance and a sour taste mouthfeel. The antioxidant activities, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrilhydrazyl, hydroxyl radical scavenging and ferric reducing/antioxidant power activities, increased gradually during thermal processing. Practical Applications Black garlic has been used as foods and herbal remedies mainly in Japan, Korea and China, which has a wide range of health benefits, significantly antioxidant properties. Various physicochemical changes have been found to take place during thermal processing of garlic, including alliin, allicin, saccharides, pH, color and antioxidant activities. This is the first study to investigate the changes in the molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides and the monosaccharide composition of black garlic. These changes in saccharide contents and composition could be utilized as quality factors for the production of black garlic. Therefore, the results may have some useful practical implications at both the food technology and nutritional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expression of the carbohydrate‐active enzyme family and related genes is known to be influenced by the response of intestinal microbiota to dietary changes. However, it is uncertain whether this is caused by variation in the intestinal microecology. In this study, metabolite analysis, 16S rDNA sequencing, metagenomics, and Western blotting were employed to investigate the effects of dietary intervention on the composition of gut microbiota and microbiota‐mediated changes. The results showed that compared with the low fiber‐fed group, the fiber diet‐fed mice displayed a shift in gut microbiota composition to contain more members of phylum Bacteroidetes, accompanied by higher proportions of Akkermansia and typical probiotic Bifidobacterium. Moreover, correlations were found between microbial genes coding for carbohydrate‐binding module family 48 (CBM48) and intestinal epithelial expression levels of AMPK β. This finding provides new insight for elucidating the contribution of dietary intervention through AMPK regulation linked to the microbial carbohydrate‐binding family. Practical applications: The relationship suggested by these data will provide theoretical and applied foundations for the development of potential intervention targeting the interaction between gut microbiota and host health, particularly the use of dietary fiber as a medically relevant food. Additionally, a better understanding of the interactions between gut microbiota and intestinal epithelial will inform the development of gut microbiota intervention as a health‐promoting procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]