Microwave-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis to produce xylooligosaccharides from rice husk alkali-soluble arabinoxylan.

The prebiotic properties of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) and arabino-xylooligosaccharides (AXOS) produced from rice husk (RH) using microwave treatment combined with enzymatic hydrolysis were evaluated. The RH was subjected to microwave pretreatment at 140, 160 and 180 °C for 5, 10 and 15 min to obtain crude arabinoxylan (AX). Increasing microwave pretreatment time increased sugar content. Crude AX was extracted with 2% (w/v) sodium hydroxide at 25 °C for 24 h and used as a substrate for XOS production by commercial xylanases. Results showed that oligosaccharides produced by Pentopan Mono BG and Ultraflo Max provided xylobiose and xylotriose as the main products. AXOS was also present in the oligosaccharides that promoted growth of Lactobacillus spp. and resisted degradation by over 70% after exposure to simulated human digestion.

Effect of encapsulated Lactobacillus casei 01 along with pressurized-purple-rice drinks on colonizing the colon in the digestive model.

The objective of the study was to examine the influence of encapsulated Lactobacillus casei 01 combining with two types of pressurized-purple-rice drinks on colonizing the colon using a simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem. Subsequently, the metabolic products of colon bacteria and various microflora were determined. The finding revealed that acetate which was the predominant short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) was found in both proximal and distal colons, while the combination of encapsulated L. casei 01 and germinated-purple-rice drinks gave rise to highest formation of SCFA. Significant impact of rice drinks could be observed on reducing ammonia production. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that encapsulated L. casei 01 and encapsulated L. casei 01 plus rice drinks markedly increased concentration of colon lactobacilli and bifidobacteria by 2 and 1 log 16S rRNA gene copies/mL, respectively. On the contrary, undesirable bacteria such as clostridia and coliforms were significantly reduced with the influence of encapsulated L. casei 01 plus purple-rice drinks.