Prebiotic Dietary Fiber and Gut Health: Comparing the in Vitro Fermentations of Beta-Glucan, Inulin and Xylooligosaccharide

Abstract

Prebiotic dietary fiber supplements are commonly consumed to help meet fiber recommendations and improve gastrointestinal health by stimulating beneficial bacteria and the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), molecules beneficial to host health. The objective of this research project was to compare potential prebiotic effects and fermentability of five commonly consumed fibers using an in vitro fermentation system measuring changes in fecal microbiota, total gas production and formation of common SCFAs. Fecal donations were collected from three healthy volunteers. Materials analyzed included: pure beta-glucan, Oatwell (commercially available oat-bran containing 22% oat β-glucan), xylooligosaccharides (XOS), WholeFiber (dried chicory root containing inulin, pectin, and hemi/celluloses), and pure inulin. Oatwell had the highest production of propionate at 12 h (4.76 μmol/mL) compared to inulin, WholeFiber and XOS samples (p < 0.03). Oatwell’s effect was similar to those of the pure beta-glucan samples, both samples promoted the highest mean propionate production at 24 h. XOS resulted in a significant increase in the genus Bifidobacterium after 24 h of fermentation (0 h:0.67 OTUs (operational taxonomic unit); 24 h:5.22 OTUs; p = 0.038). Inulin and WholeFiber increased the beneficial genus Collinsella, consistent with findings in clinical studies. All analyzed compounds were fermentable and promoted the formation of beneficial SCFAs.

In vitro assessment of prebiotic properties of xylooligosaccharides produced by Bacillus subtilis 3610

“…As expected, larger volumes of CO 2 and H 2 were obtained from the lactulose and XOS fermentation when comparing to the blank. Carlson et al (2017) and Buruiana et al (2017) reported the same trend in gas production using in vitro models with human fecal inoculum and XOS obtained from corn stover. Methane was not detected for both donors' samples.…”

“…Moreover, in in vivo models, the produced SCFAs are rapidly absorbed, which limits their measurement (Carlson et al, 2017). Thus, in vitro models are more suitable to study the kinetics of colonic fermentation.…”

Complex dietary-polysaccharide modulates gut immune function and microbiota, and promotes protection from autoimmune diabetes

“…Complex non-digestible dietary polysaccharides are thought to be degraded / fermented by colonic bacteria and affect the overall gut microbiota composition and immune function [35][36][37] , and it could impact the autoimmune outcomes. Therefore, we determined the impact of prolonged oral treatment of NOD mice with YBG on gut microbiota.…”

Inulin Ameliorates Alcoholic Liver Disease via Suppressing LPS‐TLR4‐Mψ Axis and Modulating Gut Microbiota in Mice

“…Inulin, a natural dietary prebiotic found in plants, can alleviate celiac disease, diet‐induced obesity (Nicolucci et al., ), insulin resistance (Weitkunat et al., ), and abnormal elevated serum triglycerides and cholesterol levels (Lin et al., ; Martínez‐Abundis et al, ) via modulating gut microbiota, promoting the growth of a series of probiotics involving Bifidobacterium (Nicolucci et al., ; Vandeputte, ), Anaerostipes , Collinsella (Carlson et al., ), and Lactobacilli (Dewulf et al., ). Inulin also has been proved to control the inflammation in human with type 2 diabetes mellitus (Dehghan et al., ; Roshanravan et al., ).…”