Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Could foodomics hold the key to unlocking the role of prebiotics in gut microbiota and immunity? ☆ Lisa FM Lee Nen That 1, *, Baojun Xu 2,# and Jessica Pandohee 3,$ Prebiotics research in the last decade has come a long way due to the maturation of omics technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and foodomics) and bioinformatics tools. Nowadays, prebiotics are not only thought of as oligosaccharides, but several classes of compounds that have been proven to have prebiotic characteristics and thousands of new sources of prebiotics are still under exploration. The discovery of novel prebiotics means that further research is needed to understand their roles in the microbiota and the host. The relationship between the gut microbiota and its host is crucial in determining the host well- being and the ability of the microbiota to thrive. A dysbiosis in this relationship can cause severe illnesses. This review discusses how omics technologies can be used in prebiotics research. Addresses 1 School of Science, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia 2 Food Science and Technology Program, BNU-HKBU United International College, Zhuhai, Guangdong 519087, China 3 Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia Corresponding authors: Baojun Xu (baojunxu@uic.edu.cn), Jessica Pandohee (jessica.pandohee@telethonkids.org.au) * ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0808-4547. # ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0739-3735. $ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4343-7192. Current Opinion in Food Science 2022, 48:100920 This review comes from a themed issue on Innovations in Food Science Edited by Baojun Xu https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2022.100920 2214-7993/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Prebiotics are biochemical compounds that can be me- tabolized by the gut microbiota. Although originally thought to be nondigestible carbohydrates, a plethora of biomolecules, including prebiotic oligosaccharides, fer- mentable fbers, polyphenols, noncarbohydrate sub- strates, and fatty acids, have been shown to act as prebiotics [1]. Polyphenols, in particular, have been shown to promote the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and the growth of microorganism with prebiotic functions in preclinical studies [2]. These nu- traceutical compounds can be found in nature in fruits, vegetables, seeds, honey, and cereals or fermented foods such as kimchi [3]. Since prebiotics are the food of the gut microbiota, they play an important role in main- taining a healthy and balanced intestinal microorganism composition and diversity. In the intestines, prebiotics are digested to SCFAs that are responsible for enhancing immunity, infammation, and metabolism [4]. Despite their potential for benefcial impacts on human health, the consumption and use of prebiotics are still widely underestimated. Until recently, the development of low-cost sequencing techniques and bioinformatic tools has driven research in the characterization of the microbiota (ensemble of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoans, virus, and parasites living within the host) and its role in health and disease [5,6]. Discoveries in the search for new prebiotics as well as the ways they affect our body and their mechanism of action have not experienced the same boost until re- cently because they required an interdisciplinary ap- proach in order to assemble data collected from the profling of the consumed food, gut microbiota, host metabolome, and health status. This was only made possible with new tools and techniques (timeline shown in Figure 1); foodomics is a new feld of research that precisely addresses all the criteria needed. Foodomics involves the study of food and nutrition using omics tools. By using a system-biology approach, it is possible to monitor the fate of food nutrients from consumption to absorption and more importantly to link the metabo- lites to one’s gut microbiota and health or disease status [7]. This review presents the new discoveries describing further the role of prebiotics on the human health as a result of the recent developments in foodomics. It dis- cusses the implications of different prebiotics and the ☆ Given the role as Guest Editor, Baojun Xu had no involvement in the peer-review of this article and has no access to information regarding its peer-review. Full responsibility for the editorial process for this article was delegated to Alejandro Gregorio Marangoni, Editor in Chief. ]] ]] ]]]]]] www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Food Science 48( 2022) 100920