Iran-Made Oligosaccharide Proper for Use in Infant Formula
“Oligosaccharide is considered as a strategic product for Iran and it forms an important part of the breast milk, and in recent years, different research and studies have been conducted on oligosaccharide,” Massoud Babakhani, the managing director of the company, told ANA.
Noting that many infants are unable to receive breast milk and are obliged to consume formula, he said, “Detailed research has been conducted on this issue in the past 30 years that the presence of sugars or oligosaccharides is highly essential for the nutrition of newborns,”
“Oligosaccharide is very useful for improving the immune and digestive systems, and even adults can use it and can even be sold as food supplements,” Babakhani said.
An oligosaccharide is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically three to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugars). Oligosaccharides can have many functions including cell recognition and cell adhesion.
Oligosaccharides are carbohydrates that contain two or more than two monosaccharides (2-10 units of monosaccharides). Based on the number of sugar units they contain, they are of different types. Trisaccharides, tetrasaccharides, pentasaccharides, etc. are some of the types of oligosaccharides.
Functional oligosaccharides have important prebiotic properties for gut health through their fermentation in the gut. Their mechanism of action is mainly to promote the production of short-chain fatty acids and to regulate the gut microbiota.
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