The potential role of nondigestible Raffinose family oligosaccharides as prebiotics

Abstract

Based on factual scientific health claims, prebiotics has gained significant importance in ever-growing food and pharmaceutical industries. The diverse nature of distinct prebiotics influences the host differently in distinguishable patterns. Functional oligosaccharides are either plant-derived or commercially prepared. Raffinose, stachyose, and verbascose are three types of raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) that have been extensively used as medicine, cosmetic, and food additives. These dietary fiber fractions avert the adhesion and colonization by enteric pathogens and add nutrition metabolites for a healthy immune system. Enrichment of RFOs in healthy foods should be promoted as these oligosaccharides augment gut microecology by enhancing the health conferring microbes i.e. Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. RFOs influence the host’s multiorgan systems due to their physiological and physicochemical properties. For example, the fermented microbial products of such carbohydrates affect neurological processes, including memory, mood, and behavior in humans. Raffinose-type sugar uptake is thought to be a ubiquitous property of Bifidobacteria. This review paper summarizes the source of RFOs and their metabolizing entities highlighting bifidobacterial carbohydrate utilization and health benefits.

Application of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LP95 as a Functional Starter Culture in Fermented Tofu Production

“…The presence of stachyose and raffinose in Tofu can take on a health aspect in humans. In fact, these galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), as prebiotics, improve the balance of the gastrointestinal microbiota, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria and inhibiting the growth of pathogens [40][41][42][43].…”

Determinants of raffinose family oligosaccharide use inBacteroidesspecies

“…As mentioned above, Bacteroides rely on enzymes encoded by genes in PULs for RFO degradation. However, other gut commensals like Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus harbor operons that encode dedicated RFO regulation, transport, and metabolism functions ( 51 , 53 , 57 ). This may reflect that Bacteroides are better adapted to preferentially degrade longer polysaccharides whereas other commensals are more efficient degraders of smaller oligosaccharides like RFOs or HMOs.…”

“…Recent studies have revealed the importance of RFOs in human health as prebiotics because they can modulate the abundance of beneficial bacteria in the gut ( 51 , 52 , 54 ). Because of their ability to influence the microbiota, it is important to elucidate the mechanism by which gut bacteria can utilize RFOs.…”

“…Recent studies have revealed the importance of RFOs in human health as prebiotics because they can modulate the abundance of beneficial bacteria in the gut (51, 52, 54).…”

Pisum sativum L. ‘Eso’: Metabolic Profiling of Yellow Seeds to Define the Optimal Harvest Time

“…It is important to highlight that these oligosaccharides are antinutrients since they are not digestible by humans but by their microbiota and, therefore, can cause several problems such as flatulence due to the metabolism of intestinal methanogenic bacteria [50]. However, recent articles have shown that consumption of raffinose-like oligosaccharides can also be related to an improvement of the gut microbiota ecology, in particular with the increase in the Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, which are characteristic for a healthy microbiota [51,52].…”