Opuntia extract-supplemented and control (estabilization and wash-out periods) microbiota [DataSet]

Faecal microbiota from a healthy adult donor was inoculated into the three colon reactors (AC: acending colon, TC: transverse colon, and DC: desending colon) of the BFBL gut simulator. An initial 7-day stabilization period of the microbial community was performed to reach the steady state prior to the extract supplementation. After this stabilization period, 1g of Opuntia extract was added each day (for 7 days) supplemented to the simulator at the ‘breakfast’ stage. Finally, another 7-day wash-out period was included. This complete process was performed three times, as extracts from three different Opuntia varieties were tested: Opuntia stricta var. dillenii (OD), Opuntia ficus-indica var. Colorada pulp extract (COL), and Opuntia ficus-indica var. Blanca peel extract (BB). It was performed sequentially and each assay included independent stabilization and wash-out phases between treatments. During the experimental set up, samples were collected every 24 h from the three colon reactors (AC, TC, and DC) and centrifuged (10,000 ×g during 10 min at 4 °C), and the pellet was used for bacterial genomic DNA extraction (EZNA® Bacterial DNA Kit, Omega Biotek) and using a FastPrep equipment for mechanical lysis (Bio 101 FastPrep FP120, Savant Instruments). The extracted DNA underwent amplicon-based metagenomic sequencing targeting the full-length 16S rRNA gene that was sequenced by Novogene (Munich, Germany) using the PacBio Sequel II/IIe platform.