Prebiotic characteristics of arabinogalactans during in vitro fermentation through multi-omics analysis

Background and objectives Dietary fibers have beneficial effects on human health through the interaction with gut microbiota . Larch wood arabinogalactan (LA-AG) is one kind of complex soluble dietary fibers that may be utilized by human gut microbiota. Methods and results In this study, the LA-AG degradation by gut microbiota were characterized by investigating the change of LA-AG, microbiota composition, and the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), lactic acid, succinic acid , as well as volatile organic metabolites. During the fermentation, pH decreased continuously, along with the organic acids (especially acetic acid and lactic acid) accumulating. LA-AG was degraded by gut microbiota then some beneficial metabolites were produced. In addition, LA-AG inhibited the proliferation of some gut microbiota ( Unclassified_Enterobacteriaceae and Citrobacter ) and the accumulation of some metabolites (Sulfide and indole) released by gut microbiota. Conclusion LA-AG was partly fermentable fibers with prebiotic potential for human gut health.