Effects of food matrix on the prebiotic efficacy of inulin-type fructans: a randomised trial

Jackson, P. P. J., Wijeyesekera, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6151-5065, Theis, S., Van Harsselaar, J. and Rastall, R. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1775-5226 (2023) Effects of food matrix on the prebiotic efficacy of inulin-type fructans: a randomised trial. Beneficial Microbes, 14 (4). pp. 317-334. ISSN 1876-2891 doi: 10.1163/18762891-20220120

Abstract/Summary

Recently there is much debate in the scientific community over the impact of the food matrix on prebiotic efficacy of inulin-type fructans. Previous studies suggest that prebiotic selectivity of inulin-type fructans towards bifidobacteria is unaffected by the food matrix. Due to differences in study design, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn from these findings with any degree of certainty. In this randomised trial, we aimed to determine the effects that different food matrices had on the prebiotic efficacy of inulin-type fructans following a standardised 10-day, 4-arm, parallel, randomised protocol with inulin either in pure form or incorporated into shortbread biscuits, milk chocolate or a rice drink. Similar increases in Bifidobacterium counts were documented across all four interventions using both fluorescence in situ hybridisation (pure inulin: 0.63; shortbread: 0.59; milk chocolate: 0.65 and rice drink: 0.71 (log10 cells/g wet faeces) and 16S rRNA sequencing quantitative microbiome profiling data (pure inulin: 1.21 × 109; shortbread: 1.47 × 109; milk chocolate: 8.59 × 108 and rice drink: 1.04 × 109 (cells/g wet faeces) (all ). From these results, we can confirm that irrespective of the food matrix, the selectivity of inulin-type fructans towards Bifidobacterium is unaffected, yet the compositional make-up of the food matrix may have implications regarding wider changes in the microbiota.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/113491
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences > Food Microbial Sciences Research Group
Uncontrolled Keywords	Microbiology (medical), Microbiology
Publisher	Brill
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