Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access

Prebiotics

Prebiotics are types of dietary fiber that feed the friendly bacteria in your gut. This helps the gut bacteria produce nutrients for your colon cells and leads to a healthier digestive system ( 1 ). Some of these nutrients include short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, acetate and propionate ( 2 ). The prebiotics concept was introduced for the first time in 1995 by Glenn Gibson and Marcel Roberfroid. Prebiotic was described as “a non-digestible 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 improves host health”