The idea that the vastly complex microbial ecosystem in the human colon has a profound impact on health is now gaining widespread acceptance in the scientific community and with the food and healthcare industries. Recent research is illuminating the intricate interactions between microbes in the colon, their metabolites and human metabolism. Prebiotics are selectively fermented oligosaccharides that modulate these interactions in the bacterial microbiome to improve health status. The concept is an attractive one from the perspective of the food industry and there is much potential in deriving novel prebiotic oligosaccharides from plant cell wall polysaccharides. This presentation will examine what we mean by a prebiotic and give a critical overview of the status of the science supporting the health benefits. The properties of current plant derived prebiotic oligosaccharides will be discussed and recent data evaluating the potential to derive prebiotics from starch, pectins, mannans and xylans will be presented.

Novel prebiotic potential from plant polysaccharides

244th National Meeting (2012)

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