Is infant feeding on complementary food requires additional prebiotics?

Abstract

Bacteria are normal inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract, where more than 400 bacterial species are found. Bacterial colonization of the gut begins at birth, as newborns are maintained in a sterile status until the delivery begins, and continues throughout life, with notable age-specific changes. Human milk oligosaccharides are complex glycans that are highly abundant in human breast milk. It is generally accepted that human milk oligosaccharides have prebiotic effects, selectively serving as a source of energy and nutrients for desired bacteria to colonize the infant intestine. The concentration and composition of oligosaccharides varied, indicates that the protective ability of breast milk based on human milk oligosaccharides vary. Prebiotic is commonly tested on infants not started complementary food as ingredients in formula and in adults. This review was intended to describe the outcomes of the prebiotic on the infants of complementary feeding age range and their tolerance to it. The study tried to identify articles published on the prebiotic and infants with complementary feeding age range. There were four studies on the complementary feeding age range of infants about the tolerance and effect of prebiotics use. Based on the gastrointestinal symptoms finding of the studies, the addition of the prebiotics were tolerated. All studies were based on the supplementation of the prebiotics to the formula or cereals. There is a need to identify the effect of addition of prebiotics to the infants of breastfeeding during introduction of complementary feeding, both by supplementation and based on the foods containing prebiotics.