Prebiotics and probiotics play a positive role in promoting human nutrition and health. Prebiotics are compounds that cannot be digested by the host, but can be used and fermented by probiotics, so as to promote the reproduction and metabolism of intestinal probiotics for the health of body. It has been confirmed that probiotics have clinical or health care functions in preventing or controlling intestinal, respiratory, and urogenital infections, allergic reaction, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other aspects. However, there are few systematic summaries of these types, mechanisms of action and the promotion relationship between prebiotics and probiotic. Therefore, we summarized the various types of prebiotics and probiotics, their individual action mechanisms, and the mechanism of prebiotics promoting probiotics in the intestinal tract. It is hoped this review can provide new ideas for the application of prebiotics and probiotics in the future.

Astragalus membranaceus (A. membranaceus) is a homologous plant with high medicinal and edible value. Therefore, the extraction methods of Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) have attracted the attention of many research groups, but the yield of the active components is still not high. The aim of this study was to extract APS by a semi-bionic extraction method, optimize the extraction process, and evaluate the anti-aging activities of APS in vivo. The results showed that the APS yield was 18.23% when extracted by the semi-bionic extraction method. Anti-aging evaluation in rats showed that APS extracted by this method significantly decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity to cope with D-galactose-induced aging. Serum metabolomic analysis indicated that a total of 48 potential biomarkers showed significant differences, mainly involving 5 metabolic pathways. These altered metabolic pathways were mainly related to energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism. These results indicated that the semi-bionic extraction method can effectively improve the yield of APS, and the extracted APS exhibited anti-aging activity in rats. Our study provided a novel and effective method to extract APS and indicated that APS can be used as functional food and natural medicine to delay aging and prevent its complications.

Gut dysbiosis serves as an underlying risk factor for the development of hypertension. The resolution of this dysbiosis has emerged as a promising strategy in improving hypertension. Food-derived bioactive protein peptides have become increasingly more attractive in ameliorating hypertension, primarily due to their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. However, the regulatory mechanisms linking rice peptides (RP), gut dysbiosis, and hypertension remain to be fully elucidated. In our study, male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were fed with chow diet and concomitantly treated with ddH₂O (Ctrl) or varying doses of rice peptides (20, 100, or 500 mg (kg bw day)⁻¹ designated as low-dose RP, LRP; medium-dose RP, MRP; high-dose RP, HAP) or captopril (Cap) by intragastric administration. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats served as the normotensive control group and were orally administered with ddH₂O. We observed beneficial effects of RP in lowering blood pressure and ameliorating cardiovascular risk profiles, as evidenced by improvements in glucolipid metabolic disorders, hepatic and renal damage, left ventricular hypertrophy and endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive rats. More importantly, we found that RP attenuated intestinal pathological damage, improved impaired intestinal barrier, and reduced intestinal inflammation by inhibiting the HMGB1-TLR4-NF-κB pathway. Notably, multi-omics integrative analyses have revealed that RP altered the composition and function of the gut microbiota. This is exemplified by the observed enrichment of beneficial bacterial constituents, such as g_Lactobacillus, g_Lactococcus, s_Lactobacillus_intestinalis, and Lactococcus lactis, and elevated production of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acid metabolites. Collectively, these studies suggest that the hypotensive effects of RP may be associated with modulation of the gut microbiota and its short-chain fatty acids metabolites. This implicates the microbiota–gut–HMGB1-TLR4-NF-κB axis as a novel venue for the amelioration of hypertension and its complications.

Human demand for protein in nutrition increases rapidly with population growth. In this context, plant protein is also receiving increasing attention for its sustainability. Buckwheat is a nutritious grain rich in protein, polyphenols, dietary fibre, and other components. Buckwheat protein is a high-quality plant protein source, rich in amino acids, making it important in nutritional supplementation and food processing. However, buckwheat protein has problems, such as poor solubility and allergenicity, which limit its application in the food industry. As a result, researchers have explored the development of buckwheat protein covalent complexes. This review provides an overview of the formation, biological activities, and processing techniques related to buckwheat protein covalent complexes. Covalent complexes, including protein-polyphenol and protein-carbohydrate, can significantly impact antioxidant activity, allergenicity, and digestibility. In addition, the covalent binding of buckwheat protein can enhance functional properties such as solubility, foaming, and emulsifying properties. Some methods have facilitated these covalent interactions, including alkaline, heating, and ultrasonic treatment. This review also studies the characterization of buckwheat covalent complexes and the formation methods for other plant protein covalent complexes. It provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding buckwheat protein covalent complexes' interaction mechanisms, health properties, and functional food production.

Aglycin alleviates NAFLD by modulating gut microbiota composition, restoring intestinal barrier function, and reducing hepatic inflammation.