Chlorella pyrenoidosa Polysaccharides as a Prebiotic to Modulate Gut Microbiota: Physicochemical Properties and Fermentation Characteristics In Vitro

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the prebiotic potential of Chlorella pyrenoidosa polysaccharides to provide useful information for developing C. pyrenoidosa as a green healthy food. C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides were prepared and their physicochemical characteristics were determined. The digestibility and fermentation characteristics of C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides were evaluated using in vitro models. The results revealed that C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides were composed of five non-starch polysaccharide fractions with monosaccharide compositions of Man, Rib, Rha, GlcA, Glc, Gal, Xyl and Ara. C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides could not be degraded under saliva and the gastrointestinal conditions. However, the molecular weight and contents of residual carbohydrates and reducing sugars of C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides were significantly reduced after fecal fermentation at a moderate speed. Notably, C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides could remarkably modulate gut microbiota, including the promotion of beneficial bacteria, inhibition of growth of harmful bacteria, and reduction of the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. Intriguingly, C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides can promote growth of Parabacteroides distasonis and increase short-chain fatty acid contents, thereby probably contributing to the promotion of intestinal health and prevention of diseases. Thus, these results suggested that C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides had prebiotic functions with different fermentation characteristics compared with conventional prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharide, and they may be a new prebiotic for improving human health.

The effect of Chlorella supplementation in pregnant women with low‐grade inflammation

“…The safety of Chlorella supplementation has also been reported (Lv et al, 2022;Marik, 2012;Mizoguchi et al, 2008;Nakano et al, 2010). C. pyrenoidosa polysaccharides can promote the growth of Parabacteroides distasonois and increase the short-chain fatty acid content, thereby contributing to the promotion of intestinal health and prevention of disease.…”

“…Chlorella species and Chlorella extracts have been reported to exert a variety of effects, including reducing inflammation and cholesterol levels, preventing stress‐induced ulcers, enhancing resistance to infection and antineoplastic activity, decreasing dioxins in breast milk, and reducing the risk of anemia, proteinuria, and edema in pregnant women. Chlorella is currently widely commercially available as a nutritional supplement and health food (Lv et al., 2022 ; Marik, 2012 ; Mizoguchi et al., 2008 ; Nakano et al., 2010 ; Van Der Linde et al., 2021 ).…”

Bioremediation by Chlorella vulgaris: Potentials for Treatment of Municipal, Agricultural, and Industrial Wastewater Sources

“…The application of Chlorella spp. in wastewater bioremediation is prevalent in literature due to its ease of cultivation, rapid development, resilience to harsh growth conditions, high nutrient value, and numerous biologically active chemicals (Lv et al, 2022). However, it does not meet the expected scale of cultivation due to various abiotic, biotic, and other operational factors (Chowdury et al, 2020;Loftus & Johnson, 2017).…”

Regulatory effects of marine polysaccharides on gut microbiota dysbiosis: A review

“…In vitro fermentation model, oyster polysaccharides promoted SCFAs production and up-regulated the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Bacteroides and Prevotella ( Ma, Jiang, & Zeng, 2021 ). Due to the differences in structural composition and Mw, MPs from different sources will specifically promote the growth of certain flora during in vitro fermentation, produce different metabolites, and show different fermentation characteristics ( Lv et al, 2022 ). With the development of modern biological technology, qPCR and Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) have been used to evaluate the potential of prebiotics in vitro , and the concept of prebiotic index has been introduced to explore the fermentation and prebiotic characteristics of MPs more comprehensively and deeply ( de Medeiros et al, 2021 , Lopez-Santamarina et al, 2022 ).…”