Prebiotics: why definitions matter - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2015.09.001. Epub 2015 Sep 29.

Janina A Krumbeck 2, Laure B Bindels 3, Patrice D Cani 4, George Fahey Jr 5, Yong Jun Goh 6, Bruce Hamaker 7, Eric C Martens 8, David A Mills 9, Robert A Rastal 10, Elaine Vaughan 11, Mary Ellen Sanders 12

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Review

Prebiotics: why definitions matter

Robert W Hutkins et al. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

The prebiotic concept was introduced twenty years ago, and despite several revisions to the original definition, the scientific community has continued to debate what it means to be a prebiotic. How prebiotics are defined is important not only for the scientific community, but also for regulatory agencies, the food industry, consumers and healthcare professionals. Recent developments in community-wide sequencing and glycomics have revealed that more complex interactions occur between putative prebiotic substrates and the gut microbiota than previously considered. A consensus among scientists on the most appropriate definition of a prebiotic is necessary to enable continued use of the term.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Figure 1

Number of prebiotics publications sited in PubMed (search terms = prebiotic* AND bacteria NOT origins NOT inorganic), data for 2015 are through May.

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