Dietary fiber from Indian edible seaweeds and its in-vitro prebiotic effect on the gut microbiota

In the present study, the proximal composition of selected Indian seaweeds such as S. wightii, E. compressa, A. spicifera and their polysaccharide extraction by various enzymes (pancreatin, cellulase and pepsin) was carried out along with its detailed characterisation. In addition, their antioxidant activity and prebiotic score was evaluated with L. plantarum and S. typhimurium. SCFA composition was analyzed by liquid chromatography. Dietary fiber was found to be maximum in E. compressa (60.64 +/- 2.2%). The polysaccharide obtained by combined enzyme assisted extraction exhibited higher antioxidant activity. E. compressa (1.44) exhibited the highest prebiotic activity score, followed by S. wightii (1.42) and A. spicifera (0.84). Plantaricins of L. plantarum exhibited equal and enhanced inhibition activity of 1.3 +/- 0.1 cm against gut pathogens such as S. aureus, S. flexneri, E. coli. and S. typhimurium, while compared to MRS broth cultivation. The results indicate that the combined enzyme extract of seaweed polysaccharides could act as a potential prebiotic compound with extraordinary antioxidant activity and prebiotic efficiency.