A critical review on the impacts of beta-glucans on gut microbiota and human health

The beta-glucans are the glucose polymers present in the cells walls of yeast, fungi and cereals. P-Glucans are the major compositions of various nutritional diets such as oats, barley, seaweeds and mushrooms. Various biological activities of beta-glucans have been reported such as anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects. The importance of beta-glucans in food processing industries such as bread preparation, yogurt and pasta have been well elucidated. In recent findings on food science research gut microbiota plays a significant role and vastly studied for its intermediate role in regulating health. Several reports have suggested that beta-glucans should have a significant impact on the gut microbiota changes and in turn on human health. The review was aimed to accumulate the evidence on types of beta-glucans, their functional properties and the mechanism by how the beta-glucans regulate the gut microbiota and human health. The various in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies, have been summarized, in particular, the changes happening upon the beta-glucans supplementation on the gut microbiota. Overall, this review updates the recent studies on beta-glucans and gut microbiota and also inputs the demanding questions to be addressed in beta-glucans-microbiota research in the future. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.