To maintain good health is essential to include in the diet of leafy greens, concluded researchers from Australia and the UK. They discovered that, in addition to fiber, vitamins and minerals salad leaves contain a substance, without which it can not do inhabit the gut friendly bacteria. The study is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.



It is a sulfur-containing sugar molecules, called sulfohinovoza (SQ). They are formed in leafy greens - spinach, various types of lettuce, kale - in the process of photosynthesis and are the source of food and energy for beneficial intestinal bacteria. These bacteria are the scientists, SQ is decomposed into carbon and sulfur, using a special enzyme YihQ.

Through this process the released sulfur molecules enter the environment, to serve other living organisms, and beneficial bacteria can thrive in the intestines and protect it from pathogens.

Scientists suggest that the opening made in the future, they will help in the creation of an entirely new class of antibiotics, which is especially important in connection with the spread of bacteria that are resistant to conventional antimicrobial agents.