Prebiotic Effects of Polysaccharides and their Influence on Lactobacilli

Abstract

Polysaccharides are an important class of biomolecules with a variety of biological activities, and their regulation of gut microbiota and thus beneficial effects on the host has been a hot research topic in recent years. As prebiotics, polysaccharides play an important role in stimulating the growth and metabolism of beneficial microorganisms in the intestine. It also plays a prebiotic role by regulating the gut microbiota to protect the intestinal mucosal barrier and increase the content of short-chain fatty acids to maintain human health; and probiotics also play an important role in polysaccharide metabolism. Therefore, this chapter systematically summarizes and analyzes related research reports, reviews the interaction between polysaccharides and gut microbiota to improve diseases, explores the conformational relationship of polysaccharides in regulating gut microbiota in terms of molecular weight, monosaccharide composition and motifs, and investigates the relationship between lactobacilli and polysaccharides to reveal the mechanism of their bioactive effects, aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the beneficial effects of polysaccharides and their influence on lactobacilli.