Prebiotic properties of potato starch dextrins.

The objective of the present study was to compare the prebiotic properties of starch dextrins, that is, resistant dextrins obtained from potato starch in the process of simultaneous thermolysis and chemical modification, which were selected based on previous research. Both prepared dextrins met the definition criterion of dietary fiber and also the basic prebiotic criterion - they were not degraded by the digestive enzymes of the initial sections of the gastrointestinal tract. The growth of probiotic lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, as well as Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Bacteroides, and Clostridium strains isolated from feces of healthy people, showed that both studied dextrins were utilized as a source of assimilable carbon and energy by the strains. Furthermore, better growth (higher numbers of cells) counts of probiotic bacteria than those of fecal isolates indicated that the studied resistant dextrins showed a selective effect. Both dextrins might be considered as substances with prebiotic properties due to their chemical and physical properties and selectivity towards the studied probiotic bacterial strains.