An evaluation of the prebiotic potential of microbial levans from Erwinia sp. 10119

Abstract Levan, a bacterial exopolysaccharide (EPS), has been suggested to have several biological activities, such as anti-tumour activity and lowering blood pressure. There has also been interest in its potential prebiotic activity. This study investigated the fermentation profile of a levan fraction from Erwinia sp. 10119 (average DP = 137) throughout a three-stage continuous gut model system, in which inulin HP (average DP = 40) was included as a comparison. Levan-type fructan was found to selectively stimulate the growth of Bifidobacterium and Eubacterium rectale - Clostridium coccoides group in all fermenter vessels, with significant (p