Abstract
1-Kestose is a non-digestible oligosaccharide consisting of glucose linked to two fructose units. While 1-kestose is not digested in the small intestine of mammals, it is fermented in the ceca and colon, where the growth of bifidobacteria is promoted. In the present study, we assessed the threshold dose of dietary 1-kestose that increased cecal bifidobacterial levels in rats. Rats were fed experimental diets containing 0% to 0.3% 1-kestose for four weeks. The levels of the genus Bifidobacterium and total gut bacteria were significantly increased in cecal samples of rats fed the 0.3% 1-kestose diet. Further, a significant correlation between the dose of 1-kestose and the levels of cecal Bifidobacterium and total gut bacteria was observed. The minimum dose of dietary 1-kestose to induce significant bifidogenic activity in rats was 0.3% by weight in the diet.
Highlights
Fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) have been recognized as prebiotics for their capability to modulate composition and/or activity of the gut microbiota for decades [1]
Since our previous finding confirmed that a 0.5% 1-kestose dietary supplementation was sufficient to increase the population of Bifidobacterium in rat cecal contents [6], this study investigated the minimum effective dose of 1-kestose to modulate beneficial microbes in rats
Total bacterial levels appeared to increase in a 1-kestose dose-dependent manner, and levels were significantly greater in the 0.3% kestose diet (KES) group than the control (Figure 1C)
Summary
Fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) have been recognized as prebiotics for their capability to modulate composition and/or activity of the gut microbiota for decades [1]. Clostridium cluster XIV (XIVa and XIVb), which includes shortchain fatty acid (SCFA) producers [13], did not show significant differences among the four groups (Figure 1B). The levels of Bifidobacterium (Figure 1D) and total gut bacteria (Figure 1F), but not Clostridium cluster XIV
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