Edible herbal source-derived polysaccharides as potential prebiotics: Composition, structure, gut microbiota regulation, and its related health effects

Recently, with changes in dietary patterns, there has been increased interest in the concept of food and medicine homology, which can help prevent disease development. This has led to a growing focus on the development of functional health foods derived from edible herbal sources. Polysaccharides, found in many edible herbal sources, are gaining popularity as natural ingredients in the production of functional food products. The gut microbiota can effectively utilize most edible herbal polysaccharides (EHPs) and produce beneficial metabolites; therefore, the prebiotic potential of EHPs is gradually being recognized. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the structural features and characterization of EHPs to promote gut microbiota regulation as well as the structure-activity relationship between EHPs and gut microbiota. As prebiotics, intestinal microbiota can use EHPs to indirectly produce metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids to promote overall health; on the other hand, different EHP structures possess some degree of selectivity on gut microbiota regulation. Moreover, we evaluate the functionality and mechanism underlying EHPs in terms of anticancer activity, antimetabolic diseases, anti-inflammatory activity, and anti-neuropsychiatric diseases.