Production of prebiotics via reactions involving lactose as well as malic acid and citric acid

Abstract Prebiotics are such indigestible food ingredients that enter the colon and serve as nutrient for bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Since fibres and oligosaccharides are the typical prebiotics, we produced prebiotics in our experiments with the reaction of lactose and malic acid as well as citric acid, where these reactions made use of an appropriate concentration of these substances, had an adequate duration, and were carried out under optimal temperature conditions. We determined the optimal parameters of the reaction, measured the loss of the starting materials as well as the increase in concentration of the end-product, and analysed the total sugar content of the hydrolysed prebiotics after hydrolysis by hydrochloric acid. In vitro experiments were performed to demonstrate our end-product’s resistance to carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, which is a fundamental requirement for a prebiotic so that upon reaching the colon it can serve as nutrient for the probiotic bacteria found there.