ARS | Publication request: GLUCO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES AS PREBIOTICS

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 12, 2004
Publication Date: March 12, 2004
Citation: Cote, G.L., Holt, S.M. 2004. Gluco-oligosaccharides as prebiotics [abstract]. Pre- and Probiotics in Companion Animals Symposium, March 12, 2004, Topeka, Kansas. p. 1.

Technical Abstract: Many strains of the lactic acid bacterium Leuconostoc mesenteroides secrete enzymes which convert sucrose to polysaccharides. These glycosyltransferases are also useful for the synthesis of gluco- or fructo-oligosaccharides. One particularly interesting glycosyltransferase is alternansucrase, which synthesizes a D-glucan with alternating alpha(1-3) and alpha(1-6) linkages. In the presence of various sugar acceptors, it can also produce a variety of glucose-containing oligosaccharides. Utilization of alternansucrase-derived oligosaccharides was determined using various colonic bacteria. Certain Bifidobacterium species tested grew well on the oligosaccharide preparations. Various coliform bacteria and intestinal pathogens displayed little or no growth on any of the oligosaccharides tested. Alternansucrase-derived oligosaccharides show potential application as prebiotic dietary supplements to selectively stimulate the growth of beneficial colonic bifidobacterial species.