Abstract
One type of functional food that has been receiving much attention is food rich in prebiotics. The old but still valid definition of prebiotics defines them as non-digestible food components that selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of the beneficial bacteria in the colon and, as a result, improve the host health. Cereals, as one of the main components in the human diet, contain substantial levels of dietary fiber with probable prebiotic potential. In addition, dietary fiber, particularly soluble dietary fiber, has recently emerged as a promising natural highly functional food ingredient in food production. This review focuses on the prebiotic potential of cereal dietary fiber types and covers the achievements and developments regarding its isolation. First, the probiotic and prebiotic concepts will be discussed. Next, different components of dietary fiber and their effect on the host bacteria through in vitro and/or in vivo studies will be reviewed. In a last part, this paper also discusses means of boosting the prebiotic properties of cereal components and innovative strategies for the extraction of cereal dietary fiber. The review focuses on wheat as a leading cereal crop that is widely and intensely used throughout the world in food production.
Highlights
The emerging interest of consumers in foods having high nutritional value and beneficial health implications has resulted in a remarkable boost of probiotic and prebiotic food product development
The concept of prebiotics was amended by the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) in December 2016 as “a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit” [6]
Reported that in a small-scale human fecal batch cultures, the prebiotic effect of commercial wheat AX fractions differing in molecular mass increases as the molecular mass decreases
Summary
The emerging interest of consumers in foods having high nutritional value and beneficial health implications has resulted in a remarkable boost of probiotic and prebiotic food product development. Prebiotics were first defined as “non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of beneficial bacteria in the colon, and improve host health” [5] Since this first definition, the concept of prebiotics was amended by the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) in December 2016 as “a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit” [6]. Water-soluble DF, in particular, have been attracting interest as prebiotic ingredients [7,8] These carbohydrates resist digestion in the upper GIT, which makes that they can be used as a carbon and energy source for bacteria in the gut [9] (Figure 1). The current knowledge on prebiotic efficacy of cereal components and the innovative technologies for their isolation, with the focus on wheat as one of the world’s most widely grown and diverse crops, are discussed
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