Developing and improving enzyme-driven technologies to synthesise emerging prebiotics

Emerging prebiotics, mainly oligosaccharides and phenolic compounds, are gaining increasing attention in the scientific community owing to their health benefits and broad industrial potential. Prebiotics are widely used in foods, cosmetic formulations and dietary supplements. Emerging prebiotics offer additional advantages as they can be derived from low-cost, renewable materials and produced sustainably, in line with the principles of a circular economy. Green technological approaches, integrating expertise from different scientific disciplines, will be essential to develop efficient and environmentally friendly methods for the production of emerging prebiotic-enriched products. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the advances in this field, highlighting the advantages and optimisation of enzyme-based catalysis. Insights into how enzymes enhance the control of oligosaccharide production by enabling the selective synthesis of regioisomers with desired chain lengths and modification of phenolic prebiotics are provided. Furthermore, different technologies to improve biocatalysts to contribute to the novel bioprocess intensification strategies applicable to emerging prebiotic processing are elucidated.