Antioxidant property of synbiotic combination of Lactobacillus sp. and wheat bran xylo-oligosaccharides

Wheat bran water unextractable portion (WBWUP)
was subjected to xylanase treatment to obtain a mixture
of xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS). XOS mixture was purified
on charcoal-celite column and the individual oligosaccharides
were separated on a Bio-Gel P-2 column. The sugar composition
of the purified oligosaccharides was determined by
GLC and their structure was deduced by ESI-MS and 1H
and 13C NMR. The major oligosaccharides identified were
xylobiose and xylotriose (consisting of arabinose). Five
strains of lactobacilli (probiotics), XOS (prebiotics) and a
combination of both (synbiotics) in milk (as medium) were
monitored for antioxidant activity. DPPH radical scavenging
activity (~70 %) as well as ferric reducing power (~80 mg/
100 ml FeSO4eq) were significantly higher (p<0.05) in all the
synbiotic preparations compared to that of control. The present
study indicated that the synbiotic preparations consisting
of XOS and lactobacilli can be effectively used as dietary
supplement.