Research advance about plant polysaccharide prebiotics, benefit for probiotics on gut homeostasis modulation

As prebiotics, plant-origin polysaccharides can be metabolized by the gut microbiota, leading to the production of metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and neurotransmitters. Probiotics, and their metabolites, help balance both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory responses through various mechanisms. Moreover, probiotics can metabolize prebiotics into neurotransmitters that influence the brain-gut axis, thereby reducing anxiety and stress. There exists a synergistic effect between prebiotics and probiotics in maintaining gut homeostasis via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. For improvisation of the oral transfer mode of probiotics delivery within the intestine along with viability, efficacy, and stability co-encapsulation is required. Personalized nutrition and precision medicine are beginning to shape the application of both probiotics and prebiotics, with a growing interest in understanding the microbial characteristics associated with health and disease. This review aims to summarize the sources, types, and structures of plant polysaccharides. Co-encapsulation systems involving prebiotics and probiotics present potential applications in modulating gut homeostasis and the brain-gut axis.