Plantago ovata (Isabgol) and Rauvolfia serpentina (Indian Snakeroot)
Azamal Husen in Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees of Potential Medicinal Benefits, 2022
P. ovata is a good source of natural polysaccharides. These polysaccharides in recent times have been used for drug delivery, removal of flocculants, etc. (Gonçalves and Romano, 2016). The polysaccharide consists of 65% D-xylose, 20% L-arabinose, 6% Rhamnose, and 9% D-galacturonic acid (Figure 13.3). P. ovata husk also includes 0.94% of protein, 4.07% of ash, and 6.83% of moisture. Carbohydrates constitute the largest part (84.98%) in the seed husk. Xylose (503.1 µg/g) and arabinose (203.2 µg/g) were the most abundant (Tewari et al., 2014; Franco et al., 2020). The soluble (arabinoxylan) and insoluble (cellulose, lignin) polysaccharides are present in the seed husk. The arabinoxylan and water-soluble hemicelluloses constitute around 60% of the husk. Arabinoxylan is a hemicellulose that has xylose and arabinose linked together. Arabinoxylan is known to have antioxidant activity and other health benefits. Both insoluble and soluble fibers help in restoration of gastrointestinal functions and reduction in risk of disorders such as constipation and hemorrhoids (Khan et al., 2021). Due to high fiber content, P. ovata degrades slowly causing formation of butyrate and acetate. The butyric acid is known to have antineoplastic activity against colorectal cancer. Thus, the polysaccharides also show anticancer activity (Tewari et al., 2014; Tlili et al., 2019; Franco et al., 2020).
Dietary Fiber and Coronary Heart Disease
Robert E.C. Wildman, Richard S. Bruno in Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, 2019
Other types of soluble fibers have been extensively studied for their ability to lower serum cholesterol amounts. Psyllium has received attention over the years as a soluble fiber that can reduce cholesterol levels. Psyllium is a plant whose stalks contain tiny seeds, also called psyllium, covered by husks, which is the source of the fiber. There is a great deal of soluble fiber in psyllium; in fact, 71% of the weight of psyllium is derived from soluble fiber. In contrast, only 5% of oat bran by weight is made of soluble fiber; in other words, the soluble fiber in 1 tablespoon of psyllium is equal to 14 tablespoons of oat bran. The active fraction of psyllium seed husks that is thought to be responsible for the cholesterol-lowering effects is a highly branched arabinoxylan that is composed of a xylose backbone with arabinose and xylose containing side chains.27 Interestingly, arabinoxylan from psyllium is not fermented by colonic bacteria, apparently due to an as yet to be identified structural feature of the molecule.
Rice Bran as a Vaccine Adjuvant and as Prebiotics in Reducing Viral Diarrhea
Lijuan Yuan in Vaccine Efficacy Evaluation, 2022
It is not known which components or specific compounds of RB contributed to the HRV diarrhea-reducing activities. However, heat-resistant amylase, protease, and hemicellulose-treated rice fiber, which has significantly lower contents of protein, lipids, and carbohydrates have been shown to be able to prevent diarrhea in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced experimental colitis mouse models (Komiyama et al., 2011). This result suggests that the dietary fiber portion of RB, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, may also play important roles in decreasing diarrhea during inflammatory bowel disease. In fact, arabinoxylan, a dietary fiber from RB, significantly decreased the diarrhea score in irritable bowel syndrome adult patients through its anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating activities (Kamiya et al., 2014). RB components promoting probiotic bacteria growth and colonization are likely to vary depending on the specific bacterial species. However, heat-resistant amylase, protease, and hemicellulase-treated dietary fiber were unable to increase the shedding of Lactobacillus spp and Bifidobacterium (Komiyama et al., 2011), suggesting that carbohydrate or lipid components of RB could be the main prebiotics for LGG and EcN in this study. A recent study in mice found that a 10% RB oil diet significantly increased the occupation ratios of Lactobacillales group of bacteria in the gut microbiota (Tamura et al., 2012). Further studies are underway to identify the RB components that are responsible for its HRV diarrhea fighting properties and prebiotic properties.
Potential for enriching next-generation health-promoting gut bacteria through prebiotics and other dietary components
Published in Gut Microbes, 2020
Cathy Lordan, Dinesh Thapa, R. Paul Ross, Paul D. Cotter
Arabinoxylan (AX), a non-digestible carbohydrate often found in the cell walls of plants, can be selectively fermented in the colon by fibrolytic gut bacteria possessing AX-degrading enzymes.78 AX can be hydrolyzed to arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides (AXOS). Both AX and AXOS have demonstrated an ability to increase desirable bacteria and butyrate producers in the colon.79–81 Indeed, in one instance when a high-fat (HF) diet was administered to mice, the addition of AX subsequently increased levels of bifidobacteria.80 AX also restored bacterial levels to that of the initial control level before HF diet induced obesity, in particular enhancing populations of the Roseburia species and Bacteroides-Prevotella species that were reduced upon HF feeding. These microbial shifts as a result of AX supplementation highlight its prebiotic potential.
Microbial enterotypes beyond genus level: Bacteroides species as a predictive biomarker for weight change upon controlled intervention with arabinoxylan oligosaccharides in overweight subjects
Published in Gut Microbes, 2020
Lars Christensen, Claudia V. Sørensen, Frederikke U. Wøhlk, Louise Kjølbæk, Arne Astrup, Yolanda Sanz, Mads F. Hjorth, Alfonso Benítez-Páez
In four recent post-hoc analyses of studies conducted in Denmark, we have linked Prevotella abundance in the human gut microbiota to weight loss, when consuming whole grain and fiber-rich diet ad libitum.9–12 Specifically, the whole-grain fiber, arabinoxylan, is largely consumed as these are highly abundant in rye bread, a staple food item among Danish participants.13 On the other hand, Bacteroides is commonly associated with a “Western diet” low in fiber, and high in fat and refined sugars. However, the remarkable glycolytic potential of some Bacteroides species hinders the complete association of such microbes with fat-enriched diets and adiposity in humans.14,15 In our previous analyses, these subjects dominated by Bacteroides species have little weight control success when consuming diets rich in fiber and whole grain.9–12
Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG with flaxseed mucilage using co-extrusion technique
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2021
Kawai Lai, Yuhsuan How, Liewphing Pui
Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is one of the oldest crops that have been cultivated since the beginning of civilisation (Goyal et al.2014). It contains both soluble and insoluble fibres (Bernacchia et al.2014). The mucilage of flaxseed is located in the epidermal cell layer of the seed coat, and its extraction is achieved by aqueous method followed by a drying process (Emaga et al.2011). Seed mucilage is a soluble fibre that was hydrated and produced by mucilage secreting cells (Kreitschitz and Gorb 2018). The research claimed that seed mucilage showed good prebiotic potential as probiotics could utilise it for growth (Mueller et al.2017, Lai, et al.2020b). Its prebiotic properties are associated with the presence of arabinoxylan and were capable of stimulating the growth of L. acidophilus La-05 and has the potential to act as wall material for the encapsulation of probiotic (Bustamante et al.2015).