RT Journal Article
T1 Potential Use of Marine Seaweeds as Prebiotics: A Review
A1 López Santamarina, Aroa
A1 Miranda López, José Manuel
A1 Mondragón Portocarrero, Alicia del Carmen
A1 Lamas Freire, Alexandre
A1 Cardelle Cobas, Alejandra
A1 Franco Abuín, Carlos Manuel
A1 Cepeda Sáez, Alberto
K1 Prebiotic
K1 Polysaccharides
K1 Seaweed
K1 Rhodophyceae
K1 Phaeophyceae
K1 Chlorophyceae
AB Human gut microbiota plays an important role in several metabolic processes and human diseases. Various dietary factors, including complex carbohydrates, such as polysaccharides, provide abundant nutrients and substrates for microbial metabolism in the gut, affecting the members and their functionality. Nowadays, the main sources of complex carbohydrates destined for human consumption are terrestrial plants. However, fresh water is an increasingly scarce commodity and world agricultural productivity is in a persistent decline, thus demanding the exploration of other sources of complex carbohydrates. As an interesting option, marine seaweeds show rapid growth and do not require arable land, fresh water or fertilizers. The present review offers an objective perspective of the current knowledge surrounding the impacts of seaweeds and their derived polysaccharides on the human microbiome and the profound need for more in-depth investigations into this topic. Animal experiments and in vitro colonic-simulating trials investigating the effects of seaweed ingestion on human gut microbiota are discussed.
PB MDPI
SN 1420-3049
YR 2020
FD 2020-02-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39458
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39458
LA eng
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 23 abr 2026