RT Journal Article
T1 Animal-Origin Prebiotics Based on Chitin: An Alternative for the Future? A Critical Review
A1 López Santamarina, Aroa
A1 Mondragón Portocarrero, Alicia del Carmen
A1 Lamas Freire, Alexandre
A1 Miranda López, José Manuel
A1 Franco Abuín, Carlos Manuel
A1 Cepeda Sáez, Alberto
K1 Chitin
K1 Chitosan
K1 Prebiotic
K1 Polysaccharides
K1 Gut microbiota
K1 Insect
K1 Crustacean
AB The human gut microbiota has been revealed in recent years as a factor that plays a decisive role in the maintenance of human health, as well as in the development of many non-communicable diseases. This microbiota can be modulated by various dietary factors, among which complex carbohydrates have a great influence. Although most complex carbohydrates included in the human diet come from vegetables, there are also options to include complex carbohydrates from non-vegetable sources, such as chitin and its derivatives. Chitin, and its derivatives such as chitosan can be obtained from non-vegetable sources, the best being insects, crustacean exoskeletons and fungi. The present review offers a broad perspective of the current knowledge surrounding the impacts of chitin and its derived polysaccharides on the human gut microbiota and the profound need for more in-depth investigations into this topic. Overall, the effects of whole insects or meal on the gut microbiota have contradictory results, possibly due to their high protein content. Better results are obtained for the case of chitin derivatives, regarding both metabolic effects and effects on the gut microbiota composition
PB MDPI
YR 2020
FD 2020
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23454
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23454
LA eng
NO Lopez-Santamarina, A.; Mondragon, A.C.; Lamas, A.; Miranda, J.M.; Franco, C.M.; Cepeda, A. Animal-Origin Prebiotics Based on Chitin: An Alternative for the Future? A Critical Review. Foods 2020, 9, 782
NO The authors thank the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER), grant ED431C 2018/05, and Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (CyTED), grant PCI2018-093245 for covering the cost of publication
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026