Impact of functional ingredients from plant food byproducts on human gut microbiota

Plant food byproducts (PFBs) from food processing industries have been over produced and mismanaged worldwide causing some concerns related with food losses, economics, and environmental issues. These byproducts include diverse vegetable tissues among peels, stems, leaves, kernels, and pomace, which have been accepted as innovative, low- cost, and natural sources of bioactive molecules, such as polyphenols, proteins, polysaccharides, and dietary fiber (DF) with functional properties. Thus, based on these value-added characteristics some biotechnological studies have highlighted the importance to re-use and re-cycle the PFBs for the development of novel functional ingredients and foods. Nowadays, functional ingredients are well-recognized by their positive effect exhibited on human health due to the high content of DF and polyphenols, which have been shown positive modulation on human intestinal microbiota mainly promoting specific bacteria groups such as Firmicutes, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium, usually associated with the prevention of several diseases. Hence, this chapter describes relevant information regarding the employment of PFBs as functional ingredients and their principal interactions for a positive modulation of gut microbiota.