High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert

High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert.

Archaeological evidence from dry cave deposits in the northern Chihuahuan Desert reveal intensive utilisation of desert plants that store prebiotic inulin-type fructans as the primary carbohydrate. In this semi-arid region limited rainfall and poor soil conditions prevented the adoption of agriculture and thus provides a unique glimpse into a pure hunter-forager economy spanning over 10 000 yea...

High Dietary Intake of Prebiotic Inulin-Type Fructans from Prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert

Prebiotic capacity of inulin-type fructans.

The human gut microbiota plays a significant role in human health through its ability to digest food ingredients and manufacture metabolites. This can be positive or negative for host welfare. Moreover, the microflora plays an active role in host defense whereby colonization resistance affords protection against pathogens. Prebiotics are nondigestible food ingredients that target beneficial com...

Introducing inulin-type fructans.

Inulin is a generic term to cover all beta(2-->1) linear fructans. Chicory inulin is a linear beta(2-->1) fructan (degree of polymerisation (DP) 2 to 60; DPav=12), its partial enzymatic hydrolysis product is oligofructose (DP 2 to 8; DPav=4), and by applying specific separation technologies a long-chain inulin known as inulin HP (DP 10 to 60; DPav=25) can be produced. Finally, a specific produc...

Prebiotic inulin-type fructans induce specific changes in the human gut microbiota

OBJECTIVE Contrary to the long-standing prerequisite of inducing selective (ie, bifidogenic) effects, recent findings suggest that prebiotic interventions lead to ecosystem-wide microbiota shifts. Yet, a comprehensive characterisation of this process is still lacking. Here, we apply 16S rDNA microbiota profiling and matching (gas chromatography mass spectrometry) metabolomics to assess the cons...