IDDF2023-ABS-0269 Validation of metabolism of prebiotic supplements by commercial probiotic strains

BackgroundThe consumption of prebiotics, non-digestible fiber, has been extended from diet supplementation to clinical applications in various health complications and is now frequently prescribed by health practitioners. Because prebiotics is selectively fermented/metabolized by gut microbiota (probiotics) to confer health benefits, therefore, we aimed to determine the effect of commercially available prebiotics from different brands on the growth of probiotics to evaluate their effectiveness in human health care.MethodsNine prebiotic supplements, from different brands, having diverse ingredients were purchased from pharmacies, health stores, or online. The water solubility of all samples was determined by dissolving 1g sample in 10 ml water. The effect of prebiotics on the growth of two probiotic strains, Y and S, was evaluated by culturing them in 100 ml NB medium supplemented with 5% prebiotic samples. The cultures were incubated at 37 °C in the shaking incubator and microbial growth was monitored at regular intervals of time spectrophotometrically at 600nm. The culture’s supernatants were analyzed by TLC before and after microbial growth to monitor the utilization of fiber by probiotics.ResultsDifferent blends of fiber in different prebiotic brands showed 100% (completely soluble; prebiotic 4)- 0% (non-soluble; prebiotic 5) water solubility. Strain Y showed higher growth in the presence of prebiotics compared to the control, except in prebiotic number 8 in which the growth was lower, and prebiotic 4, which didn’t support extra growth. Unlike Y-strain, prebiotic samples didn’t support the growth of S-strain except prebiotics 1 and 7. Very interestingly, TLC analysis of the medium before and after microbial growth showed the absence of mono/oligosaccharides and the production of a new type of water-insoluble polysaccharides by both strains that look different than the parent prebiotic compound. Importantly, the Y-strain produced different exopolysaccharides than the S-strain indicating a distinct mechanism of action of different probiotics to metabolize different fibers.ConclusionsThe water solubility of commercial prebiotic samples depends on the type of fiber present in each blend. Different growth trends of probiotic strains in different prebiotic blends indicate the requirement of different fiber types for their proliferation. The unique water-insoluble exopolysaccharides produced by prebiotic’s metabolism could have biotechnological potential.