The original silymarin components gradually degraded with time in the presence of the fecal microbiota but their proportions remained relatively constant. Complete degradation of all components by the fecal microbiota was observed after 24 h, with silychristin and 2,3dehydrosilybin being completely degraded after 8 h, as shown in Figure . Twenty catabolites were formed from the original components during the fermentation. Of these, six were defined as transient, characterized by their maximum intensity at 4 or 8 h. The others were final catabolites (mainly structural isomers), with maximum intensity reached after 24 h. Notably, these final catabolites can be further classified as early catabolites when detected at 2 or 4 h of incubation and as late catabolites when detected after ≥ 8 h of incubation, as illustrated in Figure .