Does Beano(R) Reduce the Level of Gas Found in Human Digestion?

Overview

Objectives/Goals Our project tests the gas production of certain vegetables and tests to see if the food enzyme dietary supplement Beano#, reduces the level of gas. We hypothesized that if Beano# is related to the reduction of gas production, then adding Beano# to vegetables will significantly diminish the level of gas produced. Methods/Materials By grinding vegetables, mixing water and yeast, and placing the mixture into a water bottle with a balloon on top, we first tested how much gas the vegetable produced on its own. Then, we created the same mixture, this time adding Beano# to it, in order to observe the amount of gas produced. Once the balloons were filled with gas, we tied them off and measured the amount of water each displaced. Results Overall, we found that the trend in our results was that the balloons with the mixture containing Beano# formed more gas, thus refuting our hypothesis. Conclusions/Discussion We think more gas was produced in the balloons with the water bottles containing Beano# because in our experiment the Beano# broke down the complex carbohydrates, starches, and cellulose. This allowed the yeast to devour the simpler substances with gas as the byproduct. In the human body, the Beano# would act in the same way, allowing the colon to absorb the nutrients of the simpler substances in a more efficient manner. This means that there is less substance left over for the gas-making bacteria to use, resulting in a significantly less amount of flatulence.

Competition history

• CSEF 2005 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry S1406

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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