ABSTRACT
Saccharolytic fermentation is the main source of energy for the vast majority of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, but there is a wide range of abilities to ferment individual mono-or disaccharides (Table 8.1). These fermentation patterns have formed a vital part of the basis of bacterial taxonomy from the early part of this century (when the ability to ferment lactose was thought to distinguish between commensal and pathogenic bacteria) to the current position (where they are the basis of speciation of many bacterial genera).
