In vitro fermentability of xylo-oligosaccharide and xylo-polysaccharide fractions with different molecular weights by human faecal bacteria

Abstract

Xylo-oligosaccharides and xylo-polysaccharides (XOS, XPS) produced by autohydrolysis of the fibre from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) were purified using gel filtration chromatography to separate the XOS and XPS from the crude autohydrolysis liquor. Six mixed fractions of refined XOS and XPS with average degree of polymerisation (avDP) of 4-64 were obtained. These were characterised in terms of their composition and size by HPLC, MALDI-ToF-MS (selected fractions) and carbohydrate gel electrophoresis (PACE). They were assessed in batch culture fermentations using faecal inocula to determine their ability to modulate the human faecal microbiota in vitro by measuring the bacterial growth, organic acid production and the XOS assimilation profile. The gut microbiota was able to utilise all the substrates and there was a link between the avDP with the fermentation properties. In general, XOS/XPS preparations of lower avDP promote better Bifidobacterium growth and organic acid production.

Wood-Derived Dietary Fibers Promote Beneficial Human Gut Microbiota

“…The counts of another member of the Actinobacteria group, i.e., the Atopobium cluster (probe ATO291), increased after 24 h of growth with AcGGM (0.8 ± 0.3 log 10 cells/ml) and FOS (0.9 ± 0.1 log 10 cells/ml), whereas AcAGX did not enhance its growth. These findings are in line with previous studies reporting that FOS promoted the growth of Atopobium , which, on the other hand, was unaffected by high-molecular-weight XOS or AXOS (15, 50). To date, no study has investigated the β-mannan fermentation capabilities of the Atopobium cluster; thus, it remains unclear whether the increase in this population seen with the AcGGM mixture is supported by the activity of mannolytic Atopobium strains.…”

“…Fermentation of AcGGM and AcAGX for 24 h increased the Bacteroides - Prevotella (probe BAC303) populations significantly (by 1.3 ± 0.2 log 10 cells/ml), while FOS increased the population by 0.9 ± 0.1 log 10 cells/ml. These results are in agreement with those obtained for low-molecular-weight XOS from oil palm empty fruit bunches and corn cobs (13, 15). Similar results were also reported with wood-derived β-MOS (21).…”

“…The XOS mentioned above selectively stimulated bifidobacteria, which led to an increase in levels of SCFAs in fecal batch culture (13–16) and in in vivo studies (18–20), thus showing prebiotic effects. The level of SCFA production and the fermentation rate were found to be dependent on XOS length and the presence of various substituents (15, 17). On the other hand, only one study has evaluated the fermentability of glucomannan and galactoglucomannan mixtures from pine wood by human fecal microbiota, reporting increased bifidobacterial numbers and higher acetate levels (21).…”

“…Even though there has been increasing interest in the structure and utilization of XOS/xylans and β-MOS/β-mannans manufactured from woody biomass, limited information is available on their use as a potential resource with health-promoting properties. Previous studies investigating the prebiotic potential of XOS employed fractions obtained from cereals and fruit waste streams (corn cobs [13], corn straw [14], olive [15], and rice husk [16]), brewers’ spent grains, and eucalyptus wood (17). The XOS mentioned above selectively stimulated bifidobacteria, which led to an increase in levels of SCFAs in fecal batch culture (13–16) and in in vivo studies (18–20), thus showing prebiotic effects.…”

Effects of dietary xylo-oligosaccharide on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters, antioxidant function, and immunological function of nursery piglets

“…Xylo-oligosaccharide plays a beneficial role in intestinal function by targeting tight junction proteins (Nawaz et al, 2018) and exhibits a probiotic effect by promoting the proliferation of beneficial microbes (Ho et al, 2018). Therfore, XOS is widely used as a probiotic to promote animal growth in animal production.…”