The prebiotic effects of amadumbe (Colocasia Esculenta) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) mucilage
Authors:   , Gajadhar Sharmista 
Published: June 2023

Prebiotics have been shown to aid in the improvement and maintenance of human health through positive manipulation of gut microbiota. Diet-induced changes in gut microbial diversity has been recognized as a factor which contributes to the rising epidemics of chronic illnesses in both developed and developing countries. Traditional crops, amadumbe (Colocasia esculenta) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) offer nutritional security to many communities in South Africa. These crops are rich in mucilage and are presumed prebiotics. Structural composition and functional properties of polysaccharides like mucilage are suggested to influence their fermentability by gut microbiota and potential health effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prebiotic effects of amadumbe and okra mucilages for potential application as dietary supplements. Mucilage was extracted from amadumbe and okra by cold water extraction. Purified mucilage was obtained by Sevag method, lipid removal and thereafter dialyzed. The composition and structure of crude and purified mucilage were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Functional properties including water and oil holding capacity, swelling and solubility were determined. The prebiotic potential of amadumbe and okra mucilage was carried out by in- vitro fermentation using human faecal sample. Glucose was the common monosaccharide present in both amadumbe and okra mucilage. Monosaccharides present in amadumbe mucilage were arabinose, mannose and xylose, while galactose, ribose and rhamnose were the main monosaccharides present in okra mucilage. The presence of β-glucan was found to be higher 0.20 g/100 g in amadumbe mucilage than in okra mucilage 0.07 g/100 g. The resistant starch content in amadumbe mucilage was higher 4 g/100 g than in okra mucilage 0.7 g/100 g. Asparagine, proline, glutamine, and threonine were the most common amino acids found in both amadumbe and okra mucilage samples. Purified amadumbe and okra mucilage displayed the same characteristic peaks as crude amadumbe and okra mucilage in the FT-IR spectrum but at a lower intensity suggesting that purification contributed to a more stable and uniform structure. The FT-IR spectrum indicated the presence of uronic acid and hydroxyl groups which confirm the existence of carbohydrate in both amadumbe and okra mucilage. The molecular weight of crude amadumbe and okra mucilages ranged between 219 and 224 kDa while molecular weight of purified amadumbe and okra mucilage ranged between 220 and 244 kDa. The purification process was seen to improve functional properties such as the water holding capacity, swelling and solubility of mucilages. In comparison to okra mucilage, crude and purified amadumbe mucilage showed low water holding capacity 5 and 9 g/100 g and high percentage solubility 61 and 73%. Amadumbe mucilage had a slightly higher oil holding capacity 11 g/100 g in comparison to okra mucilage 10 g/100 g. During in-vitro fermentation, inulin (positive control) rapidly decreased the pH of the fermentation medium from 7.0 to 6.5, in comparison to amadumbe (7.0 to 6.7) and okra (7.0 to 6.8) mucilage. At the end of fermentation inulin had maximum gas production of 233.19 mL, followed by amadumbe mucilage 158.98 mL and okra mucilage 113.98 mL. These results suggest inulin is more easily fermented by microbes compared to amadumbe and okra mucilage. Gut microbiota analysis at phylum level showed that amadumbe mucilage stimulated the proliferation of Actinobacteria and reduced the presence of Firmicutes in comparison to okra mucilage. At species level, okra mucilage promoted the growth of Bacteroidaceae bacteroidetes, Bacteroides ovatus and Bacteroides uniformis. These species are known to assist in protection of the gut and are capable of providing nutrients to other microbial species. This suggest that amadumbe and okra mucilages are fermented differently by gut microbiota possibly due to differences in their structure and composition. This study concluded that amadumbe and okra mucilages has potential to be utilized as an emerging prebiotic in food applications or as supplements.