Proliferation of Bifidobacteria by Oligosaccharides and Their Useful Effect on Human Health

Studies of oligosaccharides have recently become common, especially in Japan. This has been because of findings of marked biofunctions and usefulness of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) for human health due to their effect of improving the intestinal microflora. In this paper, we demonstrate several useful characteristics of FOS such as cholesterol reduction, suppression of putrefaction, normalization of microbial disorders of the colon and alleviation of constipation in clinical studies. It seems that the usefulness of FOS is related to the proliferation of bifidobacteria and other saccharolytic intestinal bacteria and also short chain fatty acids produced by these organisms.