Ma Ka Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-118). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- What are prebiotics? --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Current prebiotics and their development --- p.2-3 / Chapter 1.3 --- The intestinal microflora --- p.3-4 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Bacteroides --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Bifidobacteria --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Clostridia --- p.5-6 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Lactobacilli --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Bacterial colonic fermentation --- p.7-8 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Carbohydrates metabolism in colonic bacteria --- p.8-10 / Chapter 1.4.1.1 --- Carbohydrates metabolism in Bacteroides --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.1.2 --- Carbohydrates metabolism in Bifidobacteria --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.1.3 --- Carbohydrates metabolism in Clostridia --- p.11 / Chapter 1.4.1.4 --- Carbohydrates metabolism in Lactobacilli --- p.12 / Chapter 1.5 --- Health benefits of prebiotics --- p.12-13 / Chapter 1.6 --- Metabolites of fermentation: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) --- p.14-15 / Chapter 1.7 --- Applications of prebiotics as functional food ingredients --- p.16 / Chapter 1.8 --- Methodology for evaluating prebiotics --- p.17 / Chapter 1.8.1 --- In vivo fermentation study --- p.17 / Chapter 1.8.2 --- Human clinical study --- p.17-18 / Chapter 1.8.3 --- In vitro fermentation study --- p.18-19 / Chapter 1.9 --- Methods of bacterial enumeration --- p.19-20 / Chapter 1.9.1 --- Fluorescent in situ hybridisation --- p.20-22 / Chapter 1.9.2 --- Bacterial enumeration by automatic image analysis --- p.22-23 / Chapter 1.10 --- Sugar alcohols --- p.23 / Chapter 1.10.1 --- Sugar alcohols and their functions --- p.23-25 / Chapter 1.10.2 --- Digestion and absorption of sugar alcohols --- p.25-26 / Chapter 1.10.3 --- Metabolism of sugar alcohols in humans --- p.26 / Chapter 1.10.4 --- Adverse effect of sugar alcohols --- p.26-27 / Chapter 1.11 --- Fermentation of sugar alcohols in colonic bacteria --- p.27 / Chapter 1.12 --- Project objectives --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- Materials and Methods --- p.29 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2 --- Static batch culture fermentation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Substrate preparation --- p.29-30 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Human fecal inoculum preparation --- p.30-31 / Chapter 2.3 --- Dry matter and organic matter disappearance in batch fermentation --- p.31 / Chapter 2.4 --- Determination of flow rate in the continuous fermentation system. --- p.32-33 / Chapter 2.5 --- Three-stage continuous fermentation culture system --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Initial set-up --- p.34-35 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Continuous fermentation --- p.35-36 / Chapter 2.6 --- Validation of fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) method --- p.36 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Oligonucleotide probes for FISH --- p.36-37 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Cultivation of pure human intestinal bacterial culture --- p.37-38 / Chapter 2.6.3 --- Validation of oligonucleotide probes for FISH --- p.38-40 / Chapter 2.7 --- Bacterial enumeration of fermentation broth by FISH --- p.41 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Automated image analysis --- p.41-42 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- Quantification of bacteria --- p.43 / Chapter 2.8 --- Gas chromatographic determination of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) --- p.44-46 / Chapter 2.9 --- Statistical analysis --- p.46 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Results and Discussion --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1 --- Dry matter and organic matter disappearance in batch fermentations --- p.47-48 / Chapter 3.2 --- Validation of genus-specific oligonucleotide probes for FISH by pure bacterial culture --- p.48-50 / Chapter 3.3 --- FISH and multi-color FISH of human fecal bacteria --- p.50-53 / Chapter 3.4 --- Enumeration of fecal bacteria with the CellC software --- p.53-54 / Chapter 3.5 --- Colonic bacterial profile in batch culture in vitro fermentation --- p.55 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Total colonic bacteria --- p.55-56 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Bacteroides --- p.57-59 / Chapter 3.5.3 --- Bifidobacteria --- p.60-62 / Chapter 3.5.4 --- Clostridia --- p.63-64 / Chapter 3.5.5 --- Lactobacilli --- p.65-66 / Chapter 3.6 --- Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in batch in vitro fermentation --- p.67 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Total SCFAconcentration --- p.67-68 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Acetate --- p.68 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- Propionate --- p.69 / Chapter 3.6.4 --- Butyrate --- p.69-70 / Chapter 3.7 --- Determination of flow rate in three-stage continuous fermentation system --- p.71-73 / Chapter 3.8 --- Colonic bacterial profile in three-stage continuous fermentation system --- p.74 / Chapter 3.8.1 --- Total colonic bacteria --- p.74-75 / Chapter 3.8.2 --- Bacteroides --- p.76 / Chapter 3.8.3 --- Bifidobacteria --- p.77-78 / Chapter 3.8.4 --- Clostridia --- p.79-80 / Chapter 3.8.5 --- Lactobacilli --- p.81 / Chapter 3.9 --- SCFAs in three-stage continuous fermentation system --- p.82 / Chapter 3.9.1 --- Total SCFA concentration --- p.82-87 / Chapter 3.9.2 --- SCFA molar ratio --- p.88-89 / Chapter 3.9.3 --- Acetate --- p.90-91 / Chapter 3.9.4 --- Propionate --- p.92-93 / Chapter 3.9.5 --- Butyrate --- p.94-95 / Chapter Chapter. 4 --- Conclusions and Future Works --- p.96-98 / List of References --- p.99-117 / Related Publications --- p.118