Utilization of marine algae has increased considerably over the past decades, since biodiversity within brown, red and green marine algae offers possibilities of finding a variety of bioactive compounds. Marine algae are rich sources of dietary fibre. The remarkable positive effects of seaweed dietary fibre on human body are related to their prebiotic activity over the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbiota. However, dietary modulation of microorganisms present in GIT can be influenced by different factors such as type and source of the dietary fibre, their molecular weight, type of extraction and purification methods employed, composition and modification of polysaccharide and oligosaccharide. This review will demonstrate evidence that polysaccharides and oligosaccharides from marine algae can be used as prebiotics, emphasizing their use in human health, their application as food and other possible applications. Furthermore, an important approach of microbial enzymes employment during extraction, modification or production of those prebiotics is highlighted.

在过去的几十年中，由于棕色，红色和绿色海藻中的生物多样性为发现各种生物活性化合物提供了可能性，因此海藻的利用已大大增加。海藻是膳食纤维的丰富来源。海藻膳食纤维对人体的显着积极作用与其在胃肠道（GIT）微生物群上的益生元活性有关。然而，存在于GIT中的微生物的饮食调节可能受不同因素的影响，例如饮食纤维的类型和来源，它们的分子量，采用的提取和纯化方法的类型，多糖和低聚糖的组成和修饰。这项审查将证明有证据表明，海藻中的多糖和低聚糖可以用作益生元，强调它们在人类健康中的应用，在食品中的应用以及其他可能的应用。此外，突出了在这些益生元的提取，修饰或生产过程中使用微生物酶的重要方法。