Polysaccharides from exudate gums of plants and interactions with the intestinal microbiota: A review of vegetal biopolymers and prediction of their prebiotic potential.

Polysaccharides in plant-exuded gums are complex biopolymers consisting of a wide range of structural variability (linkages, monosaccharide composition, substituents, conformation, chain length and branching). The structural features of polysaccharides confer the ability to be exploited in different industrial sectors and applications involving biological systems. Moreover, these characteristics are attributed to a direct relationship in the process of polysaccharide enzymatic degradation by the fermentative action in the gut microbiota, through intrinsic interactions connecting bacterial metabolism and the production of various metabolites that are associated with regulatory effects on the host homeostasis system.