Barley β-Glucans-Containing Food Enhances Probiotic Performances of Beneficial Bacteria

Abstract

Currently, the majority of prebiotics in the market are derived from non-digestible oligosaccharides. Very few studies have focused on non-digestible long chain complex polysaccharides in relation to their potential as novel prebiotics. Cereals β-glucans have been investigated for immune-modulating properties and beneficial effects on obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cholesterol levels. Moreover, β-glucans have been reported to be highly fermentable by the intestinal microbiota in the caecum and colon, and can enhance both growth rate and lactic acid production of microbes isolated from the human intestine. In this work, we report the effects of food matrices containing barley β-glucans on growth and probiotic features of four Lactobacillus strains. Such matrices were able to improve the growth rate of the tested bacteria both in unstressed conditions and, importantly, after exposure to in vitro simulation of the digestive tract. Moreover, the effect of β-glucans-containing food on bacterial adhesion to enterocyte-like cells was analyzed and a positive influence on probiotic-enterocyte interaction was observed.

Effect of Different Aloe Fractions on the Growth of Lactic Acid Bacteria

“…The growth curves of L. acidophilus and L. delbrueckii were different in terms of both lag phase and number of colonies, a result mediated by their specific nutritional requirements and the ability of β‐polysaccharides like β‐glucan to cause the strain‐selective growth of microorganisms (Arena and others ).…”

β-glucan from mulberry leaves and curcuma can improve growth performance and nutrient digestibility in early weaned pigs

“…Prebiotics, primarily derived from non-digestible oligosaccharides, are non-digestible food substances that selectively stimulate the growth of favourable species of bacteria in the gut, benefitting the host. It is well reported that Oligo-fructose, fructo-oligosaccharide, inulin, and β-glucan have been used as prebiotics (Kaplan & Hutkins 2000;Smiricky-Tjardes et al 2003;Loh et al 2006;Arena et al 2014). It is well known that β-glucan acts as an immunostimulant to activate immune cells by binding to its specific receptor dectin-1, a c-type lectin receptor expressed on the surface of macrophages (Brown et al 2002;Vos et al 2007).…”

Selected physiological activities and health promoting properties of cereal beta-glucans. A review

“…Barley beta-glucan stimulated growth of Lactobacillus plantarum, L. acidophilus and L. fermentum in unstressed conditions and in in vitro conditions simulating digestion in the gut. Moreover, food matrices containing barley beta-glucans had positive effect on probiotic-enterocyte interaction (Arena et al, 2014). However, in another in vitro study, the authors did not observe support of growth of probiotic strains by oat and barley beta-glucans used as the sole carbon sources in fermentation media.…”