title: Prebiotic effects of neoagaro-oligosaccharides prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis of agarose.
abstract: To investigate the prebiotic properties of neoagaro-oligosaccharides (NAOS), obtained from enzymatic hydrolysis of agarose, the in vitro and in vivo effects of NAOS on bacterial growth were studied. In vitro NAOS were found to be highly resistant to enzymes of the upper gastrointestinal tract, which remained intact after 24h incubation with different amylolytic enzymes. NAOS significantly stimulated the growth of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in Man-Rogosa-Sharp (MRS) medium, anaerobically. Compared with fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), 1% (w/v) NAOS promoted the specific growth rate of beneficial bacteria by about 100%. The decreases of media pH with NAOS were almost the same as that with FOS. In vivo, NAOS significantly increased the numbers of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria (P<0.05) in fresh feces or cecal content while reducing putrefactive microorganisms. Mice fed with 2.5% (w/v) NAOS for 7 days had larger increases in colonic beneficial bacteria population than those fed with even 5% (w/v) FOS for 14 days. No side effects, such as eructation and bloating, were found. Interestingly, NAOS with higher degrees of polymerization (DP) showed better prebiotic activity. These results indicated that NAOS had great prebiotic effect, which could be beneficial to the host.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs of Ministry of Education, Marine Drug and Food Institute, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Qianhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jingbao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wengong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000254:growth & development; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology*; D004063:Digestion; D017753:Ecosystem; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000254:growth & development; D051379:Mice; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019936:Probiotics / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012685:Sepharose / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D012685:Sepharose