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In vitro fermentation of potential prebiotic flours from natural sources: Impact on the human colonic microbiota and metabolome
Author(s) -
Maccaferri Simone,
Klinder Annett,
Cacciatore Stefano,
Chitarrari Roberto,
Honda Harue,
Luchinat Claudio,
Bertini Ivano,
Carnevali Paola,
Gibson Glenn R.,
Brigidi Patrizia,
Costabile Adele
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.201200046
Subject(s) - prebiotic , metabolome , metabolomics , food science , biology , fermentation , gut flora , microbiome , resistant starch , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , starch , bioinformatics
Scope Fibers and prebiotics represent a useful dietary approach for modulating the human gut microbiome. Therefore, aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of four flours (wholegrain rye, wholegrain wheat, chickpeas and lentils 50:50, and barley milled grains), characterized by a naturally high content in dietary fibers, on the intestinal microbiota composition and metabolomic output. Methods and results A validated three‐stage continuous fermentative system simulating the human colon was used to resemble the complexity and diversity of the intestinal microbiota. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to evaluate the impact of the flours on the composition of the microbiota, while small‐molecule metabolome was assessed by NMR analysis followed by multivariate pattern recognition techniques. HT 29 cell‐growth curve assay was used to evaluate the modulatory properties of the bacterial metabolites on the growth of intestinal epithelial cells. All the four flours showed positive modulations of the microbiota composition and metabolic activity. Furthermore, none of the flours influenced the growth‐modulatory potential of the metabolites toward HT 29 cells. Conclusion Our findings support the utilization of the tested ingredients in the development of a variety of potentially prebiotic food products aimed at improving gastrointestinal health.