Oligosaccharide prebiotic

Mountzouris, K. C., Balaskas, C., Fava, F., Tuohy, K. M., Gibson, G. R., and Fegeros, K. (2006). Profiling of composition and metabolic activities of the colonic microflora of growing pigs fed diets supplemented with prebiotic oligosaccharides. Anaerobe 12,178-185. Mulvey, M. A. (2002). Adhesion and entry of uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Cell. Microbiol. 4, 257-271. 

There is a growing interest in the inclusion of soluble fibre into the diet to help improve health. This is extending to drinks as well, with such fibre being added to milk- and fruit-based products such as smoothies . One source of soluble fibre which has attracted attention over the last few years is inulin or oligofiuc-tans. Inulin consists of oligosaccharides that are extracted from chicory or Jerusalem artichokes and that are claimed to improve colon function and to have prebiotic properties, enhancing the working of the gut. Inulin is a complex carbohydrate which can be assayed in a number of different ways. However, there are two published methods in the AO AC manual for its analysis (997.08 and 999.03). 

These carbohydrates may be added to all kinds of foods, such as cereals, cakes, biscuits, and health drinks. They can be extracted from things like chicory root or produced from sugar by the action of specific enzymes. A little FOS is also to be found in bananas, leeks, and wheat, and the other prebiotics also occur naturally, but no fruit or vegetable by itself can supply the 5 g of oligosaccharides needed daily to boost the good bacteria. Indeed the normal person s diet contains only about 2 g of these carbohydrates. 

Rastall, R.A. and Hotchkiss, A.T. Jr (2003) Potential for the development of prebiotic oligosaccharides from biomass, in Oligosaccharides, in Food and Agriculture (eds G. Eggleston and G.L. Cote), The American Chemical Society, Washington, pp. 44-53. 

Of the prebiotics listed some have received extensive investigation whereas efficacy data on others may not be so abundant. The fructan-type oligosaccharides, GOS and IMO will be discussed in further detail here. Pectic oligosaccharides would be considered as emerging prebi-... 

Stimulating the growth of the beneficial bacteria resident in the colon is a prerequisite for any oligosaccharide to be considered as a prebiotic. In vitro studies using pure or mixed cultures and fructan oligosaccharides as the sole carbon source provide initial results to support... 

Despite the range of prebiotic oligosaccharides on the market (described above), there is much interest in developing novel forms of oligosaccharides as prebiotics. In most cases, these novel forms have only been evaluated using in vitro systems and are awaiting human data to confirm their efficacy. 

As we study the fermentation properties of an increasing range of oligosaccharides we are starting to unravel the structure-function relationships in these molecules [111]. This, coupled with advances in carbohydrate bioengineering, will allow the knowledge-based design of prebiotics with specific functional enhancements. 

Extensive data are available on the prebiotic efficacy of oligosaccharides from in vitro models representing the human colon and from human clinical trials. Whether results from these studies can be extended to animals needs to be determined. The physiology and microflora of the gastrointestinal tract will vary from animal to animal and in most cases there may be limited or no knowledge of the microecology. 

In addition to exerting a beneficial effect on host health, prebiotics can be incorporated into foods as they possess various physiochemical properties. Pla)me and Crittenden [48] identified desirable attributes for these oligosaccharides (O Table 6). Currently the Japanese are the market leaders as regards prebiotic food stuffs, but America and Europe are slowly catching up. 

A rapidly developing class of functional carbohydrates are the prebiotics (O Chap. 5.3). Currently these selectively stimulate health-positive bacteria in the colon [256]. There are, however, possibilities to enhance their functionality. One such functional enhancement would be persistence of the prebiotic fermentation to the distal colon [263]. One way to approach this is to produce oligosaccharide mixtures with controlled molecular weight distributions. 

Inulin is a recognized prebiotic carbohydrate in its own right but is also used as a source of fructo-oligosaccharides by hydrolysis. Inulin, a fructan polymer is widely distributed in plants [264] and chicory Cichorium intybus) is extensively used as a source of inulin for commercial purposes [265]. The roots of chicory contain 15 to 20% inulin and 5 to 10%... 

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