Barboza M, Sela DA, Pirim C, Locascio RG, Freeman SL, German JB, Mills DA, Lebrilla CB
"Glycoprofiling bifidobacterial consumption of galacto-oligosaccharides by mass spectrometry reveals strain specific, preferential consumption of glycans" [JOURNAL ARTICLE]
Appl Environ Microbiol 2009 Oct 2.
Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are versatile food ingredients that possess prebiotic properties. However, at present there is a lack of precise analytical methods available to demonstrate specific GOS consumption by bifidobacteria. To better understand the role of GOS as prebiotics, purified GOS (pGOS) free of disaccharide- and monosaccharides was prepared and used in bacterial fermentation experiments. Growth curves showed that all bifidobacteria assayed utilized and grew on pGOS preparations. We applied a novel approach using mass spectrometry by employing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (MALDI-FTICR) to determine the composition of oligosaccharides in GOS syrup preparations. MALDI-FTICR analysis of spent fermentation media demonstrated the preferential consumption of select pGOS species by different bifidobacteria. The approach described here demonstrates that MALDI-FTICR is a rapid-throughput tool for comprehensive profiling of oligosaccharides within GOS mixtures. In addition, the selective consumption of certain GOS species by different bifidobacteria suggests a means for targeting prebiotics to enrich select bifidobacterial species.
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