Glucooligosaccharides from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-742 (ATCC 13146): a potential prebiotic.

There is an emerging market for functional oligosaccharides for use in foods. Currently, technology for the production of oligosaccharides is limited to extraction from plant sources, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides or synthesis by transglycosylation reactions. Oligosaccharides can also be produced using a Leuconostoc fermentation and restricting the polymer size by addition of maltose. Maltose limits the dextransucrase reaction, yielding high concentrations of alpha-glucooligosaccharides. Branched oligomers produced by this process were readily catabolized by bifidobacteria and lactobacilli but were not readily utilized by either Salmonella sp. or Escherichia coli, pointing toward their use in intestinal microflora modification.