A category of functional food, defined as non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon, and thus improve host health. cf. probiotics.
The “food” that probiotics need to develop, grow, and flourish.
Non-digestible oligosaccharides that support the growth of colonies of potentially beneficial bacteria in the colon.
Nondigestible fibers that are the energy source for beneficial bacteria in the colon.
Nondigestible carbohydrates that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of bacteria in the colon and thus improve host health.
A nutrient that stimulates the growth or health of bacteria living in the large intestine. Prebiotics are typically neither absorbed nor digested by the mammalian gastrointestinal tract. Their effects on human health occur indirectly, through their promotion of commensal organisms in the colon.