Assessment of intermediate and long chains agave fructan fermentation on the growth of intestinal bacteria cultured in a gastrointestinal tract simulator

The prebiotic activities of agave fructans are well documented; however, little is known about the effects of agave fructan fractions in particular. Some reports have demonstrated that different fructan chain lengths have different effects on the growth of intestinal microbiota bacterial communities. The aim of this study was to evaluate two agave fructan fractions on the growth of probiotic and pathogenic bacteria cultured in a gastrointestinal tract simulator. The growth was carried out by plate count using media selective for each different bacterial type. In addition, the metabolites generated via fructan metabolism were analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. These results suggest that these fructan fractions possess prebiotic activities and have beneficial effects via inhibition of intestinal pathogen growth. These effects particularly depend on the length of the selected fructan fraction administration period. This knowledge is important for enhancing the selective use of prebiotics in functional foods.

Keywords: Prebiotic, Agave fructan, Polymerization degree, ex-vivo system, short- chain fatty acid.