A food additive with prebiotic properties of an α-d-glucan from Lactobacillus plantarum DM5

An α-d-glucan produced by Lactobacillus plantarum DM5 was explored for in vitro prebiotic activities. Glucan-DM5 demonstrated 21.6% solubility, 316.9% water holding capacity, 86.2% flocculation activity, 71.4% emulsification activity and a degradation temperature (Td) of 292.2 °C. Glucan-DM5 exhibited lowest digestibility of 0.54% by artificial gastric juice, 0.21% by intestinal fluid and 0.32% by α-amylase whereas the standard prebiotic inulin, showed 25.23%, 5.97% and 19.13%, hydrolysis, respectively. Prebiotic activity assay of glucan-DM5 displayed increased growth of probiotic bacteria such as Bifidobacterium infantis and Lactobacillus acidophilus, but did not support the growth of non-probiotic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. The overall findings indicated that glucan from L. plantarum DM5 can serve as a potential prebiotic additive for food products.