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Review
. 2019 Mar 9;8(3):92.
doi: 10.3390/foods8030092.

Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications

Dorna Davani-Davari  1 , Manica Negahdaripour  2   3 , Iman Karimzadeh  4 , Mostafa Seifan  5 , Milad Mohkam  6 , Seyed Jalil Masoumi  7 , Aydin Berenjian  8 , Younes Ghasemi  9   10   11   12
Affiliations
Review

Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications

Dorna Davani-Davari et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Prebiotics are a group of nutrients that are degraded by gut microbiota. Their relationship with human overall health has been an area of increasing interest in recent years. They can feed the intestinal microbiota, and their degradation products are short-chain fatty acids that are released into blood circulation, consequently, affecting not only the gastrointestinal tracts but also other distant organs. Fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides are the two important groups of prebiotics with beneficial effects on human health. Since low quantities of fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides naturally exist in foods, scientists are attempting to produce prebiotics on an industrial scale. Considering the health benefits of prebiotics and their safety, as well as their production and storage advantages compared to probiotics, they seem to be fascinating candidates for promoting human health condition as a replacement or in association with probiotics. This review discusses different aspects of prebiotics, including their crucial role in human well-being.

Keywords: fructo-oligosaccharides; galacto-oligosaccharides; gut microbiota; prebiotics; short-chain fatty acids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sources and production of major prebiotics, including fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). Prebiotics exist in human diets in small concentration. Since they have crucial roles in health maintenance, they are manufactured on industrial large scales.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prebiotics effects for health maintenance and protection against disorders. Prebiotics not only have protective effects on the gastrointestinal system but also on other parts of the body, such as the central nervous system, immune system, and cardiovascular system. TAG: triacylglycerol; LDL: low-density lipoprotein; IBS: irritable bowel syndrome; IL-4: interleukin 4; IL-8: interleukin 8; IL-10: interleukin 10; NK cells function: natural killer cells function.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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