Alpha-Cyclodextrin Functions as a Dietary Fiber

Abstract

Dietary fiber is an essential nutrient and promotes health. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides that are composed of glucopyranose molecules linked by α-1,4-glycosidic bonds. CDs are used as food additives and in pharmaceutical formulations because they improve the stability and water solubility of guest molecules. Furthermore, alpha-cyclodextrin (α-CD) is a safe food additive that is not degraded by human digestive enzymes but by the gut microbiota. Because of this, it represents a source of dietary fiber and promotes health. Several studies have shown that α-CD can ameliorate or prevent metabolic disease because it inhibits carbohydrate, fat, and cholesterol absorption by encapsulating digestive enzymes, phospholipids, and food ingredients. Furthermore, α-CD has various health promoting effects that are exerted via effects on the gut microbiota, which include anti-obesity and anti-atherosclerotic effects, the amelioration of constipation, bone strengthening, the improvement of gut immunity, the amelioration of allergic disease, and the improvement of exercise performance. Interestingly, the prebiotic effects of α-CD differ from those of conventional beneficial fermentable dietary fibers, which exert their effects via Bifidobacterium, because it affects Lactobacillus and Bacteroides, which readily generate short-chain fatty acids. In conclusion, α-CD is a useful type of dietary fiber because it has two distinct beneficial effects: to form complexes with guest molecules and to act as a prebiotic.