Abstract
SummaryThis study aims to evaluate the prebiotic potential of selected fruit peels (watermelon, pineapple and banana) by studying their effects on growth of probiotic organisms as indicated by viable counts. The effect on probiotic growth was examined using different strains, namely Lactobacillus rhamnosus, L. plantarum and Bifidobacterium bifidum. The growth for L. plantarum and L. rhamnosus in pineapple peel extract (PPE) showed the maximum value of 8.27 and 7.53 log CFU/mL respectively, after 24 h incubation. The study also revealed that PPE contained the highest amounts of indigestible polysaccharides 351.13 mg/g as compared to other peels. The major reducing sugar consisted of glucose and fructose with a total amount of 442.75, 326.05 and 354.14 mg/g in dried peel extract from pineapple, watermelon and banana respectively. Pineapple and banana peel extract exhibited maximum hydrolysis of 9.21% and 8.74% and 32.95% and 30.63% when treated with gastric juice and α‐amylase. This investigation demonstrated that watermelon, pineapple and banana peel extract could be effectively used as prebiotics to improve the growth of beneficial microbes.
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