Use of mannooligosaccharides from coffee mannan by intestinal bacteria

A mannooligosaccharide mixture was obtained by hydrolysis of spent coffee g rounds. Furthermore, beta -1,4-D-mannobiose, beta -1,4-D-mannotriose, beta -1,4-D-mannotetraose, and beta -1,4-D-mannopentaose were fractionated by ac tive carbon chromatography from this mixture. Each mannooligosaccharide wer e investigated for its effect on the growth of established enterobacterial strains. Regardless of the mannooligosaccharide molecular weight, all manno oligosaccharides were used by Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Lactobacillus a cidophilus, and Lactobacillus gasseri. On the other hand, bad bacteria such as Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli that produce mutagenic sub stances could not use mannooligosaccharides. Therefore it could be expected that mannooligosaccharides had a potential to promote the improvement of h ealthful human intestinal microflora as prebiotics.