Food Science Central - Dietary prebiotics: current status and new definition

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Glenn R. Gibson¹, Karen P. Scott², Robert A. Rastall¹, Kieran M. Tuohy¹, Arland Hotchkiss³, Alix Dubert-Ferrandon⁴, Melanie Gareau⁵, Eileen F. Murphy⁶, Delphine Saulnier⁷, Gunnar Loh⁸, Sandra Macfarlane⁹, Nathalie Delzenne¹⁰, Yehuda Ringel¹¹, Gunhild Kozianowski¹², Robin Dickmann¹³, Irene Lenoir-Wijnkoop¹⁴, Carey Walker¹⁵ and Randal Buddington¹⁶

¹Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AP, UK. Tel. +44 (0) 118 378 8715. Fax +44 (0) 118 931 0080. E-mail g.r.gibson@reading.ac.uk.

²Gut Health Division, Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, Greenburn Road, Bucksburn,
Aberdeen, UK.

³US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038, USA.

⁴Developmental Gastroenterology Laboratory, Mass General Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.

⁵Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave., Toronto, ON, Canada.

⁶Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Ireland.

⁷Department of Pathology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Feigin Center, Suite 8301102, Bates Avenue, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

⁸Department of Gastrointestinal Microbiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Nuthetal D-14558, Germany.

⁹Microbiology and Gut Biology Group, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.

¹⁰Universite Catholique de Louvain, Avenue Mounier, Brussels, Belgium.

¹¹Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, NC, USA.

¹²Südzucker AG, Mannheim, Germany.

¹³Nutrition Science, Kellogg Company, One Kellogg Square, Battle Creek, MI, USA.

¹⁴Danone Research, France.

¹⁵Mead Johnson Nutrition, 2400 W. Lloyd Expressway, Evansville, IN 47721, USA.

¹⁶Department of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.

Abstract

In November 2008, a group of scientists met at the 6th Meeting of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) in London, Ontario, Canada, to discuss the functionality of prebiotics. As a result of this, it was concluded that the prebiotic field is currently dominated by gastrointestinal events. However, in the future, it may be the case that other mixed microbial ecosystems may be modulated by a prebiotic approach, such as the oral cavity, skin and the urogenital tract. Therefore, a decision was taken to build upon the current prebiotic status and define a niche for ‘dietary prebiotics’. This review is co-authored by the working group of ISAPP scientists and sets the background for defining a dietary prebiotic as ‘‘a selectively fermented ingredient that results in specific changes in the composition and/or activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota, thus conferring benefit(s) upon host health’’.

Keywords: prebiotics, gut microbiology, oligosaccharides, microbial fermentation

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