The Uses of Prebiotics Feeding the healthy bacteria for a better
intestinal ecosystem By Dr Georges Mouton In 1995, Gibson and
Roberfroid coined the concept of prebiotics in these words: “Non
digestible oligosaccharides in general and fructo-
oligosaccharides in particular, are prebiotics. They have been
shown to stimulate the growth of endogenous bifidobacteria” .
Two key properties of short chain fructo-oligosaccharides
prebiotics which lead to physiological functions are
indigestibility in the small intestine and fermentability in the
colon. They are converted into short chain fatty acids (SCFAs)
by intestinal bacteria, especially by Bifidobacteria, and these
SCFAs largely feed the colonocytes . The best dietary prebiotics
sources are artichokes (especially Jerusalem artichokes), onions
and leeks (in fact the whole Allium family), asparagus, salsify,
and chicory - the latter representing by far the dominant source
for commercialized prebiotics. Fructo-oligosaccharides are
characterized by a smaller degree o