Prospects of brown seaweed polysaccharides (BSP) as prebiotics and potential immunomodulators

Abstract

Prebiotics enhance immune response through the modulation of intestinal microbial activities, production of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), direct interaction with toll‐like receptors and mucin production. These non‐digestible food components are known to be resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis by digestive enzymes and are utilized as carbon source for the growth of beneficial bacteria population through the process of fermentation. Brown seaweed polysaccharides (BSP) have been described as emerging prebiotics due to their potential to stimulate gut microbiota activities at in vitro and in vivo stages. This review therefore examines evidence of the relationship between the prebiotic capacity of BSP, their structure, extraction, and possible mechanisms of immunomodulation. Practical applications Bio‐functional ingredients have been widely explored for numerous health benefits. Of interest to this review are polysaccharides of brown seaweed which have great prebiotic prospects. Prebiotics are important bio‐functional ingredients having the potential to improve immune health. An understanding of the prebiotic and immunomodulatory potential of BSP provides the food industry a novel alternative source of prebiotics. Excerpts from this review will provide background knowledge and advance scientific research into prospects of BSP as prebiotics and a possible commercialization of BSP products.

Beneficial effects of three brown seaweed polysaccharides on gut microbiota and their structural characteristics: An overview

“…The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Web of Science at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.01.183. Figure 2 (Okolie et al, 2017). The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Web of Science at https://doi.org/10.1111/jfbc.12392 (Shang et al, 2017).…”

“…Figure (Okolie et al , ). The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Web of Science at https://doi.org/10.1111/jfbc.12392 (Shang et al , ).…”

“…The two kinds of basic structures of laminarin (M and G chain) are presented in Fig. 2, which are classified in the reducing end (Okolie et al, 2017). Laminarin is located in cell vacuoles, found in the fronds of Laminaria and Saccharina species (Kadam et al, 2015a;Kadam et al, 2015b).…”

Addition of Wakame seaweed (Undaria pinnatifida) stalk to animal feed enhances immune response and improves intestinal microflora in pigs

“…It has also been reported that the administration of fucoidan derived from Wakame seaweed to mice enhanced NK activity in herpes simplex virus type 1‐infected mice (Hayashi, Nakano, Hashimoto, Kanekiyo, & Hayashi, ). Although it is unclear which component contributed to the increase in the number of NK cells in this study, immunity was activated not only by fucoidan but also by other polysaccharides derived from seaweed (Okolie, Ck Rajendran, Udenigwe, Aryee, & Mason, ; Shi et al, ), and it is possible that either of these was involved in the increase of NK cells. A decrease in neutrophils was observed in Experiment 3.…”

Potential correlation between carbohydrate‐active enzyme family 48 expressed by gut microbiota and the expression of intestinal epithelial AMP‐activated protein kinase β

“…Epidemiological and experimental data suggest that a fiber-rich diet can help to reduce appetite and induce gut microbiota to produce compounds that can reduce the diet-induced risk of metabolic disorders (Thorburn et al, 2015;Trompette et al, 2014). For example, supplementation with DFs alters the composition of gut bacteria populations and the associated expression of genes involved in aerobic fermentation and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) generation (Okolie, Rajendran, Udenigwe, Aryee, & Mason, 2017;Wu et al, 2011).…”