Prebiotic Profiling of Indigenous Selected Dioscorea Spp. Using In-vitro Techniques

Abstract

The current study used an in-vitro technique to evaluate the functional potential of Dioscorea alata L. and D. bulbifera L. extracts as prebiotics. Prebiotics are nondigestible carbohydrates that undergo a selective fermentation process in the gut to benefit the host, according to Gibson and Roberfroid in 1995. Many wild edible plants are high in carbohydrates and are utilised as both a staple food and medicine for a variety of stomach-related disorders. This study employed sweet tuber (ST), bitter tuber (BT), sweet bulbils (SB), and bitter bulbils (BB) from D. bulbifera, as well as tuber (AT) from D. alata and extracted prebiotics using standard method.The AT plant sample seemed to have the least reducing sugars, with a concentration of 2.83 mg/mL. The prebiotic activity of ST, BT, SB, BB, and AT samples was examined as the sole carbon source for microorganisms; among these, AT exhibited a considerable increase in the growth of recognised probiotics Lactobacillus plantarum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. boulardii, and Pichia spp. in-vitro when compared to fructooligosaccharides (FOS). This preliminary investigation indicates that AT has the potential to be used as a promising prebiotic.