POTENCIAL PREBIÓTICO DE FIBRAS SOLÚVEIS ISOLADAS DE SEMENTES DO JATOBÁ (Hymenaea courbaril L.)

Abstract

A healthy intestinal microbiota is characterized by a diverse and balanced community of microorganisms that exert beneficial effects on our body, including different species of the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are capable of contributing to the homeostasis of the intestinal ecosystem and providing positive impacts. to the health of the host. Therefore, prebiotics are non-digestible soluble fibers, generally of a polysaccharide and oligosaccharide nature, which modulate the normal intestinal microbiota in order to stimulate the multiplication of beneficial microorganisms. Among the positive impacts resulting from this stimulation are the following: selective colonization of beneficial bacteria with the possibility of excluding pathogens in the intestinal tract, modulation of the immune response and the production of lactate and short-chain fatty acids. Hymenaea courbaril L., known as Jatobá, contains soluble polysaccharides such as xyloglucans and galactomannans. However, there is no confirmation in the literature of the prebiotic potential of the soluble fibers present in Jatobá seeds. In this sense, the present study aimed to investigate the prebiotic potential of soluble fibers isolated from Jatobá seeds (H. courbaril L.). For this, the seeds were collected in Santo Amaro-MA, cataloged by the Maranhão herbarium and transported to the Laboratory of Bromatology and Food Microbiology. Then, the material obtained was used to perform the centesimal analysis with emphasis on carbohydrates, extraction/determination of fibers, monosaccharide composition, simulated human gastric juice tolerance test (SGHS), in vitro prebiotic potential, analysis of the growth of pathogenic bacteria by the extracted carbohydrates and research of lactate and short-chain fatty acids. The results obtained in the centesimal analysis with emphasis on carbohydrates demonstrated that Jatobá seeds have high carbohydrate contents (35.93%), with emphasis on soluble fibers (29.02%). Among the soluble fibers, the predominance was of polysaccharides - SJP (24.33%), while only 5% were represented by oligosaccharides - SJO. Regarding SGHS, the hydrolysis rates at pH 1, in the time intervals between 30 minutes and 6 hours, varied from 22.44% to 51.02% for SJP. For the SJO fraction, the hydrolysis rates ranged from 21.95% to 53.65%. These data indicate that both SJP and SJO are resistant to gastric acidity, since the degrees of hydrolysis were below 55% under acidic pH conditions. In the in vitro test, SJP and SJO stimulated the growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, as the main carbon sources. When comparing the growth of probiotics in the different extractions, it was observed that the greatest stimulation occurred in SJP, presenting similar results both in the medium with glucose (positive control) and in the medium with FOS (prebiotic control). SJP and SJO, used as the main carbon source, did not stimulate the growth of the pathogenic bacteria tested, such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the soluble fibers present in Jatobá seeds have potential as new prebiotic ingredients.