Prebiotics And Probiotics Science And Technology

Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology Dimitris Charalampopoulos, Robert A. Rastall (Eds.) Prebiotics and Probiotics Science and Technology With 67 figures and 97 tables Editors: Dimitris Charalampopoulos Department of Food Biosciences University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading UK [email protected] Robert A. Rastall Department of Food Biosciences University of Reading Whiteknights, Reading UK [email protected] Library of Congress Control Number: 2009929416 ISBN: 978-0-387-79057-2 This publication is available also as: Electronic version under ISBN 978-0-387-79058-9 Print and electronic bundle under ISBN 978-0-387-79059-6 ß Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC., 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. springer.com Printed on acid‐free paper SPIN: 12084159 – 5 4 3 2 1 0 To Elie Metchnikoff, Glenn Gibson and Marcel Roberfoid for originating the concept of probiotics and prebiotics Preface With growing consumer and industrial interest in self-care and integrative medicine, our understanding of the relationship between health and diet has grown stronger. As a result, the market for functional foods, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals is continuing to expand rapidly. Among these products, probiotics and prebiotics have carved their own special niche because of their scientificallysupported health promoting properties, and have been in the forefront of research over the past twenty years or so. This is driven by the realisation that the gut microbiota can play a critical role in human health. Important functions of the gut microbiota include the inhibition of the colonisation of the gut by potentially pathogenic microorganisms, the microbial fermentation of substrates yielding metabolic products which can serve as sources of energy for the gut cell wall, and the modulation of the immune system. A substantial amount of research has shown that the human gut microbiota can be modulated using probiotics and prebiotics leading to various beneficial effects. The prebiotics and probiotics area is a fast evolving field that attracts significant interest by both the academic and industrial communities. As a result, a substantial amount of research is generated every year. The use of post-genomics, encompassing transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and meta-genomics has helped greatly in making significant advances in the field, as they provide the means to ca