Prebiotics

Prebiotics (also prebiotics ) are "indigestible food components that have a beneficial effect on the host by specifically stimulating the growth and / or activity of one or more types of bacteria in the colon and thus improving the health of the host" (Gibson and Roberfroid, 1995).

Along with probiotics, prebiotics are among the most common food additives . Most of the potential prebiotics are carbohydrates , but the definition does not preclude non-carbohydrates from being used as prebiotics. They represent a selective nutritional basis for intestinal bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria and in this way can specifically influence the composition of the intestinal flora . In this way, microorganisms with a health-promoting influence for humans can potentially accumulate in the large intestine.

For the di- , oligo- and polysaccharides inulin , lactulose , lactitol , raffinose , stachyose as well as other fructans and oligofructose , prebiotic properties were investigated and proven.

In chicory , black salsify , Jerusalem artichoke , yacon and many other little or no processed plant foods, prebiotics are naturally present. Industrially, prebiotics can be produced from different starting materials. Inulin and oligofructose are mainly obtained from the root chicory (chicory). Other recognized prebiotics such as lactulose or galactooligosaccharides (GOS), on the other hand, are made from lactose (milk sugar) or isolated from milk.

In animal feeding u. a. Oligofructides and oligosaccharides used as prebiotics.

The combination of probiotics with prebiotics creates synbiotics .

Web links

• Food-Info.net: Prebiotics overview, effects, background

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "[Prebiotics] are nondigestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and / or activity of one or a limited number of bacterial species already resident in the colon, and thus attempt to improve host health." - Gibson GR , Roberfroid MB: Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota: introducing the concept of prebiotics . In: J Nutr. . 125, No. 6, Jun 1995, pp. 1401-1412. PMID 7782892 .
2. ^ Entry on prebiotics. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on February 23, 2012.
3. ^ Giulia Enders : Gut with charm. All about an underrated organ. Berlin: Ullstein, 2014, ISBN 978-3-550-08041-8 .
4. ↑ Entry on synbiotics. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on June 27, 2012.