Uses and Applications of Prebiotics in the Food Industry

Abstract

Prebiotics are functional ingredients that provide health benefits to the consumer. Nowadays, different types of prebiotics have been found, with structures and properties that characterize them particularly. The most applied are FOS, GOS, and inulin. Prebiotics can provide different benefits, including alleviating intestinal inflammation, lowering cholesterol levels, and preventing diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore, they have been used in the food industry as a functional ingredient in different types of products, since in addition to the health benefits to the consumer, they are also able to modify the physicochemical characteristics of the food positively, so they have emerged as a promising strategy in the food industry that when introduced into the human diet through vegetables, raw fruits, or added directly to food can be favorable for the intestinal microbiota of consumers.