Production and in vitro fermentation of soluble, non-digestible, feruloylated oligo- and polysaccharides from maize and wheat brans.

High-pressure hydrothermal treatment of cereal bran results in fragmentation of the cell wall, releasing soluble, non-digestible, feruloylated oligo- and polysaccharides (FOPS), which may be beneficial to gut health. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine treatment temperatures for production of FOPS from maize bran and wheat bran and (2) determine the fermentation properties of partially purified FOPS from maize bran and wheat bran. FOPS were produced by heating bran and water (10%, w/v) in a high-pressure stirred reactor until the slurry reached 160-200 °C (in 10 °C increments). Final temperatures of 190 °C for maize bran and 200 °C for wheat bran resulted in the highest release of FOPS (49 and 50% of starting non-starch polysaccharide, respectively). Partial purification with ion exchange and dialysis resulted in a final product containing 63 and 57% total carbohydrate and 49 and 30% FOPS, respectively (other carbohydrate was starch). Following in vitro digestion (to remove starch), in vitro fermentation revealed that wheat FOPS were more bifidogenic than maize FOPS. However, maize FOPS led to continual production of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA), resulting in the highest SCFA and butyrate production at the end of the fermentation. In addition, maize FOPS showed significantly higher antioxidant activity than wheat FOPS. This study identified a process to produce FOPS from maize bran and wheat bran and showed that, considering the overall beneficial effects, FOPS from maize bran may exhibit enhanced benefits on gut health compared to those of wheat bran.