Supplementing Obese Subjects with a High Fiber and Antioxidant-Rich Snack from Local Indonesian Yam Leads to Increased Bifidobacterium Spp. and Clostridium coccoides/ Eubacterium Rectale Groups

Abstract

 Introduction: The gut microbiome has been known to affect the immune, gastrointestinal, nervous, and cardiovascular sys­tems, and it can also alter the host metabolism and trigger metabolic syndrome, resulting in obesity. The two major phyla of the gut microbiome, Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes, are known to be altered in obese individuals compared with the healthy ones. Local Indonesian yam was identified to contain high insoluble and soluble fiber that is fermented by the microbiome in the gut of the host and is a specific nutrient for the gut microbiome. Therefore, we aimed to compare the gut microbiome composition in obese individuals supplemented with local Indonesian yam as the tested snack with obese individuals sup­plemented by wheat fluor as the standard snack. Material and Methods: A high-throughput screening method by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to observe the gut microbiome composition, including Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes phyla, Bacteriodetes-Prevotella-Porphyromonas groups, C. coccoides-Eubacterium rectale groups, Lactobacil­lus spp., and Bifidobacterium spp. Cq values were further normalized by all bacteria as a reference. We compared ΔCq before and after the intervention and used the paired sample t-test to analyze the significant differences. Results: Our results found that obese individuals supplemented with the tested snack that contained local Indonesian yam showed a significant increase in Bifidobacterium spp. and Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: Finally, we suspect that local Indonesian yam could have a specific prebiotic function to modulate specific gut microbiome rand improve gut mi­crobiota composition in obese individuals.