Prebiotic nut compounds and human microbiota

Figures & data

Table 1. Fiber and polyphenols content in raw nuts, with kernel.

		Polymerized Polyphenols (USDA)	Ellagitannins Data from Abe et al(Abe et al., 2010)	Phenolexplorer data base (mg/100g)
NUT	Fiber %	mg/100g	mg/100g	Proanthocyanidins	Non-flavonoids	Flavonoids
Almond	12.5	80.3	nd	176	0.4	8.5
Cashew	3.3	nd	nd	2	not described	1215
Chestnut	8.1	nd	149		1215	0.02
Hazelnut	9.7	322.4	Not detected	491	not described	5.7
Pecans	9.6	223	301	477	not described	1.7
Pistachio	10.3	122.5	Nd	226	0.22	6.9
Walnut	6.7	20	823	60	77.24	not described

Figure 1. Prebiotic almond polysaccharides metabolism in human body.

Table 2. Intervention studies with walnut interventions performed on men to evaluate prostatic biomarkers.

Number of subjects receiving walnuts	Walnut intake(ET's dose)	Days of treatment	Biomarker change	Authors
14 with prostate cancer or benign prostatic hyperplasia	35 g/d	3 d	Urolthins in prostate ^⇑	Gonzáles-Sarrías et al (González-Sarrías et al., 2010)
	(288mg ET's)		Cancer-related markers^⇒
40 healthy men	35 g/d	180d	PSA levels ^⇒	Simon et al (Simon et al., 2007)
	(288 mg ET's)
21 healthy men	75 g/d	56 d	PSA levels ^⇒	Spaccarotella et al(Spaccarotella et al., 2008)
	(617 mg ET's)		PSA/total ^⇓

⇑ increase.

⇒ mantianed.

⇓ decreased.

Figure 2. PAC metabolism in human body.

Abe, L. T., Lajolo, F. M. and Genovese, M. I. (2010). Comparison of phenol content and antioxidant capacity of nuts. Ciência e Tecnol. Aliment. 30:254–259.

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González-Sarrías, A., Giménez-Bastida, J. A., García-Conesa, M. T., Gómez-Sánchez, M. B., García-Talavera, N. V, Gil-Izquierdo, A., Sánchez-Alvarez, C., Fontana-Compiano, L. O., Morga-Egea, J. P., Pastor-Quirante, F. A., Martínez-Díaz, F., Tomás-Barberán, F. A. and Espín, J. C. (2010). Occurrence of urolithins, gut microbiota ellagic acid metabolites and proliferation markers expression response in the human prostate gland upon consumption of walnuts and pomegranate juice. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 54:311–322.

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Simon, J. A., Tanzman, J. S. and Sabaté, J. (2007). Lack of effect of walnuts on serum levels of prostate specific antigen: A brief report. J. Am. Coll. Nutr. 26:317–20.

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Spaccarotella, K. J., Kris-Etherton, P. M., Stone, W. L., Bagshaw, D. M., Fishell, V. K., West, S. G., Lawrence, F. R. and Hartman, T. J. (2008). The effect of walnut intake on factors related to prostate and vascular health in older men. Nutr. J. 7:13.

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