Assessment of the prebiotic potential of seed coats from green gram () and black gram ().

Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients which beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of intestinal bacteria. In the present work, an attempt is made to show the prebiotic ability of husks of the pulses, Green Gram () and Black Gram (), using the known standard probiotic strains: ATCC 8014 and ATCC 8042. The husks are found to be resistant to gastrointestinal digestion, and thus contain non-digestible constituents, and support the growth of beneficial microorganisms commonly present in the gastrointestinal tract. showed growth up to 80% relative to inulin for the husks The study also demonstrates the antioxidant activity of husks that can be an additional health benefit. Thus, the husks could be considered as potential prebiotic candidates. This work is the foremost of its kind to demonstrate the prebiotic activities of Green Gram and Black Gram husks.