Abstract:
Coconut testa is removed from the white coconut kernel during manufacturing of
coconut-based products without any usage. This study was conducted to
investigate the prebiotic potential of crude polysaccharide extracted from coconut
testa flour. Coconut testa flour was obtained from partially defatted and ground
coconut testa removed after processing of coconut kernel. Five different local
cultivars including Ran Thembili, Gon Thembili, Tall Tall, San Ramon and
Commercial hybrid were used to determine the prebiotic potential. The extracted
crude polysaccharides were chemically characterized using FTIR to identify the
available functional groups. The FTIR spectrum showed the presence of
functional groups like, alkanes, alkenes, aldehyde, phenol, alcohol, and
glycosidic bonds
.
Further, peaks at ⁓1373 cm-1 , and ⁓1075 cm-1 , showed
the presence of β-glucan while peak at 1244 cm-1 showed the presence of β-1,4
glycosidic bonds. This indicated that the crude polysaccharide extracted from
coconut testa flour could show prebiotic characteristics. The prebiotic potential
of extracted crude polysaccharides were determined by evaluating the resistance
to artificial human gastric juice and proliferation of Lactobacillus sp. on the crude
polysaccharide. High resistance to artificial human gastric juice was identified
with all cultivars. Highest resistance was shown by Gon Thembili cultivar while
Tall Tall cultivar showed the lowest. Higher proliferation of Lactobacillus sp.
was observed on crude polysaccharides rather than glucose. The results of
prebiotic activity score of extracted crude polysaccharides were lower than
commercial prebiotics, fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin with all the coconut
cultivars except with San Ramon cultivar. Therefore, it is evident that coconut
testa flour crude polysaccharides show prebiotic characteristics.
