Prebiotics in human digestion

Analysis of the bacterial flora is important for the characterization of fermentation events. They help the further validation of the “prebiotic index“ as fast and cost-effective screening of prebotic action within individuals or selected populations

Measuring increased fibre content in enzymatically modified starch

ALIFE The “all-in-one” method to measure the Total Dietary Fibre content was implemented at the Hanze University of Applies Sciences. Wholemeal bread and crackers showed the expected % of TDF (approx. 6 and10 %, respectively). Enzymatic treatment with a novel starch-modifying enzyme clearly resulted in an increased TDF content of starch from 1.6% to approx. 27%. Due the limited amount of sample material and low ash-content of starch, ash values were abberant. In the near future, on-going research will reveal whether the MWSDF+IDF of these enzymatically modified starches also possess any prebiotic activity and stimulate growth of probiotic bacteria

In vitro fermentation of non-digestible oligosaccharides; a method to determine effects on “prebiotic index"

The “as eaten” method to measure the Total Dietary Fibre content and an in vitro fermentation with colon bacteria were successfully coupled to see if fibre fractions have a prebiotic effect. Similar growth pattern for modified starch, FOS and GOS were observed (Fig A). The qPCR results indicate a significant stimulation of the growth of gut bacteria by FOS and GOS and in lesser extent by the modified starch (Fig.C). Future experiments will compare the qPCR data with metagenomic analysis of in vitro and in vivo experiments

Algaefinery: isolation of algal oils from algae

Bitumen is a highly valued and much used roofing material, but as an oilbased, non-renewable product, bitumen is now no longer sustainable. In response to this growing need to produce more sustainable construction materials, Icopal bv, Algaecom and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences collaborated on the study to replace part of the fossil oil by Algal oils