ABSTRACT
The concept of prebiotics has gained much attention in recent years as evident in the scientic literature and the emergence of functional foods marketed with health benets associated with its prebiotic properties. Prebiotics and other nondigestible carbohydrates (including dietary ber) are fermentable substrates that have been associated with favorable effects on both colonic and systemic health.1 Furthermore, specic end products of bacterial fermentation, such as the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), have also been associated with reducing the risk of gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD).2 Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss the benets of prebiotic fermentation and SCFA production.
