Enzymatic synthesis of prebiotics from conventional food and beverages rich in sugars
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Prebiotics are bioactive compounds naturally present in certain vegetables, fruits, and other foods, for example, in Jerusalem artichoke, maguey, onion, banana, tomato garlic, honey, asparagus, seeds, legumes, milk, etc. Chemically are short-chain carbohydrates considered as nondigestible fiber that pass by the intestinal tract to be fermented by selective flora called probiotics. The fructooligosaccharides, isomaltooligosaccharides, xylooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, and lactulose are the main prebiotics compounds used in food matrices. These prebiotics present various benefits such as reduction of colon cancer risk, contribute to the utilization of calcium and magnesium in the body, and promote the growth and proliferation of probiotics. Their industrial production is through microbial enzymes such as inulinases, fructosyltransferases, fructofuranosidases, galactosidases, etc., or by extraction from vegetal matrices or by enzymatic degradation of polysaccharides such as inulin. The aim of this contribution is to review the enzymatic synthesis of prebiotics from conventional food and beverages rich in sugars because actually the enzymatic production of these compounds is by using culture media rich carbohydrates such as sucrose, lactose, inulin, etc. Also future trends in the application of prebiotics in foods and their impact in sensory properties will be reviewed in this chapter.
