In Vitro Assessment of the Prebiotic Potential of Xylooligosaccharides from Barley Straw

Cristina Álvarez; Alberto González; Ignacio Ballesteros; Beatriz Gullón; María José Negro

doi:10.3390/foods12010083

In Vitro Assessment of the Prebiotic Potential of Xylooligosaccharides from Barley Straw

Foods. 2022 Dec 23;12(1):83. doi: 10.3390/foods12010083.

Authors

Cristina Álvarez¹, Alberto González¹, Ignacio Ballesteros¹, Beatriz Gullón², María José Negro¹

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Unit, Department of Energy, Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology (CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Science, University of Vigo (Campus Ourense), As Lagoas, 32004 Ourense, Spain.

Abstract

Barley straw was subjected to hydrothermal pretreatment (steam explosion) processing to evaluate its potential as a raw material to produce xylooligosaccharides (XOS) suitable for use as a prebiotic. The steam explosion pretreatment generated a liquid fraction containing solubilised hemicellulose. This fraction was purified using gel permeation chromatography to obtain a fraction rich in XOS DP2-DP6. The sample was characterised through analytical techniques such as HPAEC-PAD, FTIR and MALDI-TOF-MS. The prebiotic activity was evaluated using in vitro fermentation in human faecal cultures through the quantification of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) and lactate production, the evolution of the pH and the consumption of carbon sources. The total SCFA production at the end of fermentation (30 h) was 90.1 mM. Positive significant differences between the amount of XOS from barley straw and fructooligosaccharides after incubation were observed.

Keywords: barley straw; in vitro digestion; prebiotic activity; xylooligosaccharides.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Regional Government of Madrid and European Structural Funds (FEDER) by the BIOTRTES-CM project, grant number S2018/EMT-4344 and as well as by the Comunidad de Madrid-CM (Spain) (Project RESTOENE-2-CM, S2013/MAE-2882).