Rethinking the classification of non-digestible carbohydrates: Perspectives from the gut microbiome

Clarification is required when the term “carbohydrate” is used interchangeably with “saccharide” and “glycan.” Carbohydrate classification based on human digestive enzyme activities brings clarity to the energy supply function of digestible sugars and starch. However, categorizing structurally diverse non-digestible carbohydrates (NDCs) to make dietary intake recommendations for health promotion remains elusive. In this review, we present a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional dichotomic classifications of carbohydrates, which were introduced by food chemists, nutritionists, and microbiologists. In parallel, we discuss the current consensus on commonly used terms for NDCs such as “dietary fiber,” “prebiotics,” and “fermentable glycans” and highlight their inherent differences from the perspectives of gut microbiome. Moreover, we provide a historical perspective on the development of novel concepts such as microbiota-accessible carbohydrates, microbiota-directed fiber, targeted prebiotics, and glycobiome. Crucially, these novel concepts proposed by multidisciplinary scholars help to distinguish the interactions between diverse NDCs and the gut microbiome. In summary, the term NDCs created based on the inability of human digestive enzymes fails to denote their interactions with gut microbiome. Considering that the gut microbiome possesses sophisticated enzyme systems to harvest diverse NDCs, the subclassification of NDCs should be realigned to their metabolism by various gut microbes, particularly health-promoting microbes. Such rigorous categorizations facilitate the development of microbiome-targeted therapeutic strategies by incorporating specific types of NDCs.