Acting as a Prebiotic for Digestive Health
Digestive disorders represent a major public health issue. Between 10 and 20% of the population of industrialised countries show a range of symptoms including diarrhoea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and cancers, with colon cancer being the most prevalent of the digestive tract cancers.
It is generally accepted that diet and lifestyle play a significant role in mediating digestive disorders. Reducing disease risk via nutritional strategies is therefore an important objective.
Probiotics, Prebiotics and Fibre
Food manufacturers have several formulation strategies for improving digestive health. These include probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics and fibre.
A probiotic is a live microbial culture which beneficially affects the host by improving the balance of the intestinal microflora. Probiotics are already well established in the marketplace in the form of dairy products such as yoghurts and are also available to consumers as convenient, individual daily doses in beverage form.
A prebiotic is a nondigestible food ingredient that beneficially affects the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improving host health.
A synbiotic is a combination of pro- and prebiotics where the efficacy of the probiotic is enhanced by the inclusion of the specific prebiotic.
Fibre can be defined in many ways. Physiologically, fibre is essential to regularise bowel function and it also has glucose and/or cholesterol attenuating effects.
Litesse® is a highly branched polymer of glucose. Its unique arrangement of glycosidic linkages makes it resistant to hydrolysis by human digestive enzymes. After ingestion it passes intact into the colon where it is partially fermented by the colonic microflora. In this way Litesse® contributes an energy value of just one calorie per gram. It is the preferred speciality carbohydrate for a variety of processed food applications including baked goods, confectionery, dairy products and beverages.
