A series of experiments examined the effects of four potential prebiotics-- GroBiotic®-A (a mixture of partially autolyzed brewers yeast, dairy components and dried fermentation products), mannanoligosaccharide (MOS), galactooligosaccharide (GOS), and inulin/ fructooligosaccharide (FOS)--on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract’s microbial community in hybrid striped bass and red drum. The first in vitro experiment applied denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to examine responses of red drum GI tract microbiota to anaerobic incubation with brewers yeast, FOS, and GroBiotic®-A. Brewers yeast and GroBiotic®-A produced unique microbial communities compared to that associated with the basal diet. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) profiles did not differ among treatments, with acetate being the major fermentation product. A second in vitro experiment examined effects of GroBiotic®-A, MOS, GOS, and FOS on the GI tract microbiota of hybrid striped bass. None of the prebiotics altered the culturable microbial community, but all tended to lower acetate production and increase butyrate production. A third experiment examined the effects of the four prebiotics fed to juvenile hybrid striped bass for 8 weeks. Growth, feed efficiency ratio (FER) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were not affected by the different prebiotics, but the GI tract’s microbial community was altered from that associated with the basal diet. The fourth experiment consisted of an 8-week feeding trial and one 6-week feeding trial in which the effects of GroBiotic®-A and FOS on growth performance and microbial community composition were compared for red drum living in independent tanks versus tanks with a shared water system. Neither the intestinal microbial community nor growth performance were significantly altered by the prebiotics in these trials; fish in independent and shared water tanks produced similar results. The final experiment examined the effects of GroBiotic®-A, FOS, MOS and GOS on nutrient and energy digestibility of sub-adult red drum fed diets containing fish meal and soybean meal. The prebiotics generally increased protein, organic matter, and energy digestibility, with the exception of FOS/inulin. Lipid digestibility was decreased by GOS, MOS and FOS. These studies are the first to establish that prebiotics can alter the GI tract microbial community of these fish and influence nutrient digestibility.

This study examined the possibility of converting mageu, a fermented maize beverage popular throughout southern Africa, into a health-promoting and affordable alternative to probiotic dairy products. A range of probiotic Lactobacillus species was compared with a control species traditionally used to prepare mageu. Prebiotic oligosaccharide (soluble fibre), which enhances the growth of beneficial bacteria, was also included. The resulting beverages were compared in two ways: sensory attributes were determined by a trained panel using quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), and consumer acceptability was assessed by 53 untrained volunteers. The QDA results suggest that mageu fermented by Lb. acidophilus or Lb. rhamnosus was most similar to the control mageu, while Lb. paracasei mageu and Lb. casei mageu were least similar. The consumer acceptability data confirmed that Lb. acidophilus or Lb. rhamnosus mageu did not differ significantly from the control, suggesting that either of these is suitable for commercial production of probiotic mageu.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-72).

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Probiotics and prebiotics are emerging household terms, whose claimed health benefits share commonality. Their attributed health benefits include the production or induction of short chain fatty acids, maintaining bowel function, building colonization resistance (against pathogens) and treating antibiotic-associated diarrhea as well as colitis. Although both probiotic and prebiotic effects on immune system have been studied, the mechanisms of their activity are still not clearly defined and the conclusions drawn are elusive. While probiotics can act to influence the host at the cellular level, prebiotics, by definition, exert their effects indirectly through their impact on gut microbes. One purpose of this study was to investigate effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 on innate immune parameters at the intestinal epithelial cell level, examining effects on both human and rat IEC. A second purpose was to define the effects of a range of prebiotic dietary fibres on the immune system at the mucosal and systemic level, using Biobreeding rats. L. rhamnosus demonstrated the ability to decrease proinflammatory cytokine and Toll-like receptor agonist-induced IL-8 and CINC-1 production from human and rat IEC, respectively. The timing of L. rhamnosus R0011 addition to HT-29 IEC, relative to proinflammatory challenge, influenced its ability to decrease IL-8 production. L. rhamnosus was more effective at decreasing production of IL-8 from human IEC when they were pre-incubated with this bacterium and subsequently challenged with proinflammatory stimuli. Certain effects of L. rhamnosus R011 were also observed in the absence of proinflammatory stimuli. Viable L. rhamnosus induced TNF-α production from rat IEC and heat-killed L. rhamnosus decreased constitutive TGF-β production from rat IEC and induced IL-8 or CINC-1 production from human and rat IEC, respectively. In Biobreeding rats, we demonstrated that oat dietary fibre significantly alters active TGF-β, CINC-1 and IL-6 levels in the colon in comparison to AIN-93G-fed rats. Wheat dietary fibre induced changes in active TGF-β, CINC-1 and IL-4 levels in the ileum in comparison to resistant starch-fed rats. Lastly, resistant starch exerted effects in the mesenteric lymph node, where changes in active TGF-β were observed in rats in comparison to AIN-93G-fed rats. Oat bran, wheat bran and resistant starch had no effects on cytokine levels in the serum or spleen of rats. Fructooligosaccharide-fed rats had a significant increase in active TGF-β levels in the colon and a significant decrease in active TGF-β levels in the spleen. Overall this suggests a FOS supplemented diet has both mucosal and systemic effects in rats, while wheat, oat and resistant starch supplemented diets had effects focused at the different locations at the mucosal level. These results illustrate differences in the ability of different dietary fibres to target immune parameters in specific mucosal tissues along the gastrointestinal tract and differential ability to exert systemic effects. Understanding the mechanism of action of probiotics provides insight into the downstream effects of prebiotics, while investigating effects of prebiotics on the immune system provides a broader view of the outcome of changes in gut microbiota composition and activity at the host organism level. / UOIT

Salmonellosis affects an estimated 1.4 million people a year with a great majority of cases never being reported. Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) can be found in a variety of foods including poultry meat and eggs. Susceptibility of SE colonization is increased by molting. Induced molting is used in the poultry industry to rejuvenate the hen??s reproductive tract and increase post molt egg quality and production. The most common molting method is complete feed withdrawal. Recent animal welfare pressures have encouraged the industry to seek alternatives to feed withdrawal with one alternative being feeding a high fiber diet like alfalfa. Alfalfa is high in protein, but low in energy which is desirable for a molt diet. Alfalfa??s fermentation properties have been thought to be an inhibitor in pathogen colonization during molting. Including a prebiotic such as fructooligosaccharide (FOS) in the molt diet is thought to further decrease colonization while benefiting the indigenous microflora. Laying hens were molted using alfalfa combined with different ratios of layer ration in an in vivo experiment. The hens responded comparably to the alfalfa molt dietsas they did to feed withdrawal as far as post-molt production parameters were concerned, thus showing that alfalfa was a viable alternative molt diet. Two in vitro studies were designed to evaluate the fermentation properties of alfalfa and layer ration combined with the prebiotic FOS and their abilities to inhibit Salmonella growth. Each treatment was combined with diluted cecal contents and allowed to ferment. The results showed that the most fermentation occurred when alfalfa was the substrate and was slightly increased with the addition of FOS. In addition, combining FOS with alfalfa inhibited Salmonella growth. To integrate these results, an in vivo study was preformed using an alfalfa/layer ration diet from the previous in vivo study with FOS. Volatile fatty acids and lactic acid measurements were made to evaluate fermentation while Salmonella colonization was measured in pertinent organs and in fecal shedding. The results of this study further substantiate alfalfa as a molt diet and conclude that the addition of FOS does, while not statistically significant, further inhibit Salmonella colonization.

Kunskapen och undersökningarna kring tarmfloran och dess koppling till flera sjukdomar ökar i snabb takt samtidigt som underliggande faktorer för utveckling av metabola syndromet blir allt vanligare. Den västerländska livsstilen med minskad fysisk aktivitet och ökad kroppsvikt leder till allt fler hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar. Studier tyder på att personer med övervikt, diabetes och andra sjukdomar har annorlunda sammansättning av tarmfloran jämfört med friska personer, men orsaken till variationerna är inte helt klarlagd. Genom analys av sju vetenskapliga artiklar undersöktes tarmflorans betydelse för faktorer inkluderade i metabola syndromet, samt om pro- eller prebiotikas effekter är av betydelse. Denna litteraturstudie gav varierande resultat beroende på vilken typ av pro- eller prebiotika som intogs, och sammantaget krävs fler studier för att kartlägga tarmflorans koppling till bland annat blodtryck, body mass index (BMI) och glukostolerans.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-11-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:30:14Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rapina_lfv_me_sjrp.pdf: 953732 bytes, checksum: 0abe53efed92e9a10f4e8178bade62cf (MD5) / Prebióticos são compostos alimentares não-digeríveis pelas enzimas do trato gastrintestinal humano que se comportam como fibras. Inulina e oligofrutose são frutanos que possuem alegação aprovada de prebiótico pela Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Os frutanos podem ser aplicados em vários tipos de alimentos com funções nutritivas (fibra e prebiótico) e tecnológicas. Trabalhos têm demonstrado que a aplicação de frutanos em produtos de panificação é viável e que os produtos são bem aceitos sensorialmente. Apesar disso, ainda não foram avaliados os efeitos da adição de frutanos nas características sensoriais de produtos de panificação através de testes sensoriais mais refinados e completos, como Análise Descritiva Quantitativa e mapa de preferência. Objetivo Geral. Avaliação do perfil sensorial e aceitação de bolos de laranja contendo prebióticos. Abordagem e Metodologia. Inulina e inulina/oligofrutose foram adicionados à formulação de bolo em quantidade suficiente para que a porção de cada alimento contivesse, pelo menos, três gramas destes compostos no total. O perfil sensorial dos produtos foi avaliado através de Análise Descritiva Quantitativa e a aceitação através de escala hedônica estruturada de nove pontos e do mapa de preferência interno. Resultados e Discussão: A Análise Descritiva Quantitativa mostrou que as três amostras de bolo de laranja apresentaram perfis sensoriais diferentes nos atributos de aparência (cor marrom da casca e cor bege da massa) e de textura (maciez, fragilidade e pegajoso), sendo que na maioria desses atributos os bolos contendo frutanos não diferiram estatisticamente entre si, mas simdo bolo padrão. Isso demonstra que, independente do tipo de frutano adicionado, os aspectos sensoriais dos bolos não foram afetados. Na avaliação global... / Prebiotics are food compounds non-digestible by the enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract human that behave as fibers. Inulin and oligofructose are fructans that have claim approved for prebiotic by the National Agency for Health Surveillance. The fructan contents can be applied in various types of foods with nutrient functions (fiber and prebiotic) and technology. Studies have shown that the application of fructans in bakery products and viable and that the products are well accepted sensorially. In spite of this, has not yet been assessed the effects of the addition of fructans in sensory characteristics of bakery products through sensory tests more refined and complete, as Descriptive Analysis and Quantitative map of preference. General Objective. Evaluation of the sensory profile and acceptance of cakes orange containing prebiotics. Material and Methods. Inulin and inulin/oligofructose were added to the formulation of cake in sufficient quantity to the portion of each food would contain at least three grams of these compounds in total. The sensory profile of the products was evaluated by means of Quantitative Descriptive Analysis and acceptance through scale bestows hedonic structured in nine points and the map of preference. Results and Discussion: The Quantitative Descriptive Analysis showed that the three samples of orange cake presented sensory profiles different in the attributes of appearance (brown color of the bark and beige of mass) and texture (softness, fragility and tacky), and in most of these attributes the cakes containing fructans did not differ statistically between themselves, but the cake pattern. This shows that, regardless of the type of fructan added, the sensory aspects of the cakes were not affected. The overall assessment, 88% of the tasters attributed notes higher than... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Research suggests that specific compositions of gut microbiota can directly affect energy harvesting and fat storage, which may indicate a potential role of intestinal bacteria in the regulation of body weight (i.e., obesity). The purpose of the current study was to determine if prebiotic- and probiotic-based diets modify gut microbiota in genetically obese rodents. For this, female Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were assigned diets containing fructooligosaccharides (FOS), Bifidobacterium (BIF), or Lactobacillus (LAC) for three weeks. qPCR was then used to measure levels of colonic Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and total bacteria. At termination, there was no significant difference in Lactobacillus levels between diets. However, there was significantly less Bifidobacterium in BIF vs. FOS or LAC-fed rats. The evidence in this study shows there were no significant differences in Lactobacillus levels between any of the feeding groups and the control group, supporting the conclusion that ingestion of any of the tested supplemented feed does not statistically modulate Lactobacillus numbers in female ZDF rats. However, the rats from the Bifidobacterium and FOS feeding groups had significantly higher colonic Bifidobacterium levels than the control group from ingesting the supplemented feed, indicating that the presence of the probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis and the prebiotic FOS stimulated the growth of Bifidobacterium.