In May 2019, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) convened a panel of nutritionists, physiologists and microbiologists to review the definition and scope of synbiotics. The panel updated the definition of a synbiotic to “a mixture comprising live microorganisms and substrate(s) selectively utilized by host microorganisms that confers a health benefit on the host”. The panel concluded that defining synbiotics as simply a mixture of probiotics and prebiotics could suppress the innovation of synbiotics that are designed to function cooperatively. Requiring that each component must meet the evidence and dose requirements for probiotics and prebiotics individually could also present an obstacle. Rather, the panel clarified that a complementary synbiotic, which has not been designed so that its component parts function cooperatively, must be composed of a probiotic plus a prebiotic, whereas a synergistic synbiotic does not need to be so. A synergistic synbiotic is a synbiotic for which the substrate is designed to be selectively utilized by the co-administered microorganisms. This Consensus Statement further explores the levels of evidence (existing and required), safety, effects upon targets and implications for stakeholders of the synbiotic concept. Gut microbiota can be manipulated to benefit host health, including the use of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics. This Consensus Statement outlines the definition and scope of the term ‘synbiotics’ as determined by an expert panel convened by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics in May 2019.

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The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of synbiotics

Simulated gastro-intestinal digestion is widely employed in many fields of food and nutritional sciences, as conducting human trials are often costly, resource intensive, and ethically disputable. As a consequence, in vitro alternatives that determine endpoints such as the bioaccessibility of nutrients and non-nutrients or the digestibility of macronutrients (e.g. lipids, proteins and carbohydrates) are used for screening and building new hypotheses. Various digestion models have been proposed, often impeding the possibility to compare results across research teams. For example, a large variety of enzymes from different sources such as of porcine, rabbit or human origin have been used, differing in their activity and characterization. Differences in pH, mineral type, ionic strength and digestion time, which alter enzyme activity and other phenomena, may also considerably alter results. Other parameters such as the presence of phospholipids, individual enzymes such as gastric lipase and digestive emulsifiers vs. their mixtures (e.g. pancreatin and bile salts), and the ratio of food bolus to digestive fluids, have also been discussed at length. In the present consensus paper, within the COST Infogest network, we propose a general standardised and practical static digestion method based on physiologically relevant conditions that can be applied for various endpoints, which may be amended to accommodate further specific requirements. A frameset of parameters including the oral, gastric and small intestinal digestion are outlined and their relevance discussed in relation to available in vivo data and enzymes. This consensus paper will give a detailed protocol and a line-by-line, guidance, recommendations and justifications but also limitation of the proposed model. This harmonised static, in vitro digestion method for food should aid the production of more comparable data in the future.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01209876/document

A standardised static in vitro digestion method suitable for food – an international consensus

Bioethanol production from rice straw: An overview.

Preserving the efficacy of probiotic bacteria exhibits paramount challenges that need to be addressed during the development of functional food products. Several factors have been claimed to be responsible for reducing the viability of probiotics including matrix acidity, level of oxygen in products, presence of other lactic acid bacteria, and sensitivity to metabolites produced by other competing bacteria. Several approaches are undertaken to improve and sustain microbial cell viability, like strain selection, immobilization technologies, synbiotics development etc. Among them, cell immobilization in various carriers, including composite carrier matrix systems has recently attracted interest targeting to protect probiotics from different types of environmental stress (e.g., pH and heat treatments). Likewise, to successfully deliver the probiotics in the large intestine, cells must survive food processing and storage, and withstand the stress conditions encountered in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Hence, the appropriate selection of probiotics and their effective delivery remains a technological challenge with special focus on sustaining the viability of the probiotic culture in the formulated product. Development of synbiotic combinations exhibits another approach of functional food to stimulate the growth of probiotics. The aim of the current review is to summarize the strategies and the novel techniques adopted to enhance the viability of probiotics.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/7/1591/pdf

Probiotics in Food Systems: Significance and Emerging Strategies Towards Improved Viability and Delivery of Enhanced Beneficial Value.

Increasing energy demands are not only exploiting the fossil resources but, also depleting natural environment. Biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable, ecofriendly, sustainable and could be a promising alternative to fossil fuels. However, pretreatment is an essential step to disarray the layers of lignocellulose prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. Among various pretreatments of lignocellulose, the biological pretreatment using microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi are gaining popularity due to its financial and environmental benefits. Careful selection of the suitable microbial consortium for efficient pretreatment of biomass is a critical step. The co-culture of bacteria and/or fungi in consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is highly beneficial in the breakdown of complex biopolymers due to their high enzyme activity. Our selection of highly promising bacterial and/or fungal consortium has the ability to produce various extracellular enzymes including cellulase, hemicellulase, and lignases. It can be used in CBP for efficient biological pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass following production of biofuels and bioproducts.

Biological Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Biofuels and Bioproducts: An Overview

Towards a maximal cell survival in convective thermal drying processes

A novel co-culture process with Zymomonas mobilis and Pichia stipitis for efficient ethanol production on glucose/xylose mixtures

Respirable liquid marble for the cultivation of microorganisms

Effects of pulsed electric field treatments on some properties of tapioca starch.

Advances in the study of the rate processes in spray drying have helped improve product quality. Single droplet drying (SDD) is an established method for monitoring the drying kinetics and morphological changes of an isolated droplet under a controlled drying environment, mimicking the droplet convective drying process in spray drying. To enhance particle quality requires understanding of both the particle formation process and knowledge of how different particle properties are affected by the drying conditions used. The latest development in the SDD technique enables evaluation of these aspects by incorporating a dissolution test in the drying experiment. The experiment is realized by attaching a solvent droplet to a dried/semi-dried single particle in situ and then video-recording the resultant morphological changes. Some of the particle (e.g., crystallinity) properties obtained under different drying conditions can be modelled using the measured droplet drying kinetics. This paper reviews the applicati...

Nan Fu

Papers

Towards a maximal cell survival in convective thermal drying processes

A novel co-culture process with Zymomonas mobilis and Pichia stipitis for efficient ethanol production on glucose/xylose mixtures

Respirable liquid marble for the cultivation of microorganisms

Effects of pulsed electric field treatments on some properties of tapioca starch.

Single Droplet Drying Technique to Study Drying Kinetics Measurement and Particle Functionality: A Review