Role of Plant-Derived Prebiotic in Modulation of Human Gut Microflora: A Review

Abstract

At the time of the coevolution of humans and microorganisms, the human digestive tract was colonized by thousands of species of bacteria. Mostly, intestine-borne microbes amount to the overall number of cells in the body tissue. The latest metagenomics study of the human intestinal microbiota confirmed the existence of some 3.3 million genes relative to only 23,000 genes found in tissue cells in the human body. There is increasing evidence for multiple beneficial functions of the gut microbiota in human health and illness. The best-described plant prebiotics is fructans and inulin. The best-known prebiotic carbohydrates comprise many plants, roots and tubers, and fruit crops, whereas prebiotic-richer grain crops contain maize, chickpea, lentil, lupin, and wheat. Some prebiotic enriched crop germplasm were documented in maize, chickpea, lentil, wheat, and yacon. Intestinal microbiota perturbation may contribute to persistent diseases such as autoimmune diseases, bowel cancers, stomach ulcers, colon disorders, and malnutrition. This can be impossible to recover the intestinal microbiome, but the usage of probiotics has contributed to a positive effect in a significant number of very well-designed (clinical) trials. Microbiomics has prompted a significant growth of interest in probiotics and prebiotics as potential mediators for the administration and regulation of gut microbiota in medicine, industry, and the general public. Developing prebiotic-rich healthy plants can mitigate the prevalent malnutrition challenge and facilitate worldwide global health. Bioinformatics and genomics tools may help to create mechanistic associations between gut microflora, a person's health status, and the outcomes of plant prebiotic drug treatments.