Polydextrose: Physiological Function, and Effects on Health

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 8; no. 9; p. 553
• Main Authors: do Carmo, Mariane Moreira Ramiro, Walker, Julia Clara Leite, Novello, Daiana, Caselato, Valeria Maria, Sgarbieri, Valdemiro Carlos, Ouwehand, Arthur C, Andreollo, Nelson Adami, Hiane, Priscila Aiko, Dos Santos, Elisvânia Freitas
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08.09.2016; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Dietary Fiber - administration & dosage; Energy Intake; fiber; Food Additives - pharmacology; functional foods; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Glucans - pharmacology; health; Humans; Intestines - drug effects; Intestines - microbiology; Lipid Metabolism - drug effects; Models, Animal; Oligosaccharides - pharmacology; polydextrose; prebiotics; Prebiotics - administration & dosage; Review; Trace Elements - blood; Trace Elements - pharmacokinetics; functional foods; health; prebiotics; fiber; polydextrose
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu8090553

Polydextrose (PDX) is a non-digestible oligosaccharide used widely across most sectors of the food industry. It is a randomly linked glucose oligomer containing small amounts of sorbitol and citric acid. The random bonds in PDX prevent mammalian digestive enzymes from readily hydrolyzing the molecule and it has a reported energy value of 1 kcal/g. These properties have led to the acceptance in many countries that PDX provides similar physiological effects as other dietary fibers and has shown prebiotic potential. Dietary intervention with prebiotics has been shown to selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of intestinal bacteria associated with several physiological benefits on health. Therefore, the objective of this review was a survey of the literature on the effect of supplementation with PDX in health, and to list the benefits for maintaining health and/or reducing the development of diseases.