<P> Carbohydrates not digested in the small intestine , including resistant starch foods such as potato , bean , oat , wheat flour , and several monosaccharide oligosaccharides and starch , are digested in a variable when they reach the large intestine . The bacterial flora metabolize these compounds anaerobically in the absence of oxygen . This produces gases ( hydrogen , carbon dioxide and methane ) and short - chain fatty acids ( acetate , propionate , butyrate ) . The gases are absorbed and excreted by breathing or through the anus ( flatulence ) . Fatty acids are rapidly metabolized . Butyrate is used mainly by cells in the colon and acetate is absorbed into the blood and taken up by the liver , muscle and other tissue . Propionate is an important precursor of glucose in some animals , but not humans . </P>
<P> Carbohydrates not digested in the small intestine , including resistant starch foods such as potato , bean , oat , wheat flour , and several monosaccharide oligosaccharides and starch , are digested in a variable when they reach the large intestine . The bacterial flora metabolize these compounds anaerobically in the absence of oxygen . This produces gases ( hydrogen , carbon dioxide and methane ) and short - chain fatty acids ( acetate , propionate , butyrate ) . The gases are absorbed and excreted by breathing or through the anus ( flatulence ) . Fatty acids are rapidly metabolized . Butyrate is used mainly by cells in the colon and acetate is absorbed into the blood and taken up by the liver , muscle and other tissue . Propionate is an important precursor of glucose in some animals , but not humans . </P>
where does the final stage of carbohydrate digestion occur
where does the final stage of carbohydrate digestion occur
the large intestine
the large intestine