Prebiotics: why definitions matter

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA. Electronic address: rhutkins1@unl.edu.
² Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA.
³ Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
⁴ Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group, WELBIO (Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology), Av. E. Mounier, 73 B1.73.11, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
⁶ Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
⁷ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁹ Department of Food Science & Technology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, PO Box 226, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AP, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Sensus BV (Royal Cosun), Borchwerf 3, 4704RG Roosendaal, The Netherlands.
¹² Dairy & Food Culture Technologies, Centennial, CO 80122, USA.

PMID: 26431716
PMCID: PMC4744122
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2015.09.001

Review

Prebiotics: why definitions matter

Robert W Hutkins et al. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2016 Feb.

. 2016 Feb:37:1-7.

doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2015.09.001. Epub 2015 Sep 29.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA. Electronic address: rhutkins1@unl.edu.
² Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA; School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0919, USA.
³ Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
⁴ Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group, WELBIO (Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology), Av. E. Mounier, 73 B1.73.11, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
⁶ Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
⁷ Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁸ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁹ Department of Food Science & Technology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, PO Box 226, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AP, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Sensus BV (Royal Cosun), Borchwerf 3, 4704RG Roosendaal, The Netherlands.
¹² Dairy & Food Culture Technologies, Centennial, CO 80122, USA.

PMID: 26431716
PMCID: PMC4744122
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2015.09.001

Abstract

The prebiotic concept was introduced twenty years ago, and despite several revisions to the original definition, the scientific community has continued to debate what it means to be a prebiotic. How prebiotics are defined is important not only for the scientific community, but also for regulatory agencies, the food industry, consumers and healthcare professionals. Recent developments in community-wide sequencing and glycomics have revealed that more complex interactions occur between putative prebiotic substrates and the gut microbiota than previously considered. A consensus among scientists on the most appropriate definition of a prebiotic is necessary to enable continued use of the term.

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Figures

**Figure 1**
Number of prebiotics publications sited in PubMed (search terms = prebiotic* AND bacteria NOT origins NOT inorganic), data for 2015 are through May.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Prebiotics: why definitions matter

Affiliations

Prebiotics: why definitions matter

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources