Red seaweed (Kappaphycus alvarezii) cultivated from Sabah (RSS) and Langkawi (RSL) were digested using in vitro mouth, gastric and duodenal model. The digested seaweed then fermented in a pH-controlled batch culture system inoculated with human faeces to mimic the distal colon. Bacterial enumeration were monitored using fluorescent in situ hybridisation, and the fermentation end products, the short chain fatty acids (SCFA), were analysed using HPLC. Both RSS and RSL showed significant increase of Bifidobacterium sp.; from log 7.96 at 0 h to log 8.72 at 24 h, and from log 7.96 at 0 h to log 8.60 at 24 h, respectively, and shows no significant difference when compared to the Bifidobacterium sp. count at 24 h of inulin fermentation. Both seaweeds also showed significant increase in total SCFA production, particularly acetate and propionate. Overall, this data suggested that K. alvarezii might have the potential as a prebiotic ingredient.
There are numerous species of bacteria resides in the lumen of human colon. The word 'colon', resembles colony or the colonization of microbiota of which plays an important role in the fermentation of prebiotics. The standpoint of prebiotic nowadays is well reported for attenuating gut dysbiosis in many clinical studies tested on animals and human. However, because of the huge amount of gut microbiome, the attempt to connect the dots between bacterial population and the host are not plainly discernible. Thus, a need to analyse recent research on the pathways of prebiotic metabolism adopted by commonly studied probiotics i.e. Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus. Several different substrate-dependent gene expressions are induced to break down oligosaccharide molecules shown by those probiotics. The hydrolysis can occur either by membrane bound (extracellular) or cytoplasmic (intracellular) enzyme of the enteric bacteria. Therefore, this review narrates several prebiotic metabolisms occur during gut fermentation, and metabolite production i.e. organic acids conversion.
Acacia gum (AG) is
a branched-polysaccharide gummy exudate that
consists of arabinose and galactose. The traditional practice in African-Middle
Eastern countries uses this gum as medicine. Traditional use of AG
is to treat stomach disease, which can be a potential functional food.
In this research, commercially available AG from Acacia
senegal and Acacia seyal was investigated as the prebiotic. The experiment employed a pH-controlled
in vitro colon model inoculated with human fecal microbiota to mimic
the human colon. Fermentation samples at 0, 6, 12, and 24 h were brought
for short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) analysis using high-performance
liquid chromatography and bacterial enumeration via fluorescent in
situ hybridization. Results showed that AG significantly promotes Bifidobacteria proliferation similar to fructo-oligosaccharides
(FOS) while inhibiting the Clostridium histolyticum group, commonly associated with gut dysbiosis. Acetate, propionate,
and butyrate showed a similar trend to FOS (p >
0.05).
The AG shows potential against gut dysbiosis, as it promotes gut-probiotics,
through modulation of microbial population and SCFA production, especially
butyrate.
By having large sources of fruits and vegetables, Sarawak, Malaysia has a remarkable
diversity of flora. One of the underutilised local indigenous fruits in Sarawak that come
from the Burseraceae family is Dabai (Canarium odontophyllum). Dabai is highly
nutritious and rich in protein, fat, energy and carbohydrate. Hence, the oil extraction of
nutritive dabai has become one of the interests in this review. The chemical characteristics
of the extracted oils from both the dabai flesh and the kernel were discussed. A total of
approximately 75 recognised species have been found mainly in Asia, the Pacific and
tropical Africa. Later led to further investigation of the possible cholesterol-lowering
agent due to its high antioxidant ability. The fruit is slightly triangular in the cross-section,
ovoid to ellipsoid. It is also rich in phenolic compounds and vitamin E, such as γtocopherol. The review uncovered the potentials of the dabai as nutritious fruit with
promising medicinal properties.
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