PREBIOTIC EFFECTS OF INULIN AND ACACIA GUM (REVIEW)

Abstract

Prebiotics have great potential as agents to improve or maintain a balanced intestinal microflora to enhance health and wellbeing. They are non-digestible (by the host) food ingredients that have a beneficial effect through their selective metabolism in the intestinal tract. Key to this is the specificity of microbial changes. Thanks to the methodological and fundamental research of microbiologists, enormous progress has been made in understanding the gut microbiota. A large number of human intervention studies have been performed that have demonstrated that dietary consumption of certain food products can result in statistically significant changes in the composition of the gut microbiota in line with the prebiotic concept. The concept prebiotics is to enhance the growth of beneficial bacteria in the lower intestine. There is much interest in increasing the numbers and activities of beneficial bacteria (Bifidobacteria) in the large gut, preferably at the expense of more harmfulbacteria. The focus of this review has been to point out the prebiotic effects (bifidogenic effects) of acacia gum and inulin. Some effects attributed to selected prebiotics have been proved by clinical trials, while others have been acquired on the basis of in vitro tests.