FIG 1.

Preservation experiments. Planktonic artificial colonic microbiota (plankM) and sessile artificial colonic microbiota (sessM) were obtained from fermentation F1 and F2. Microbiotas were reactivated in batch fermentation at two different time points (red dots). The first batch fermentation was performed with fresh microbiota after incubation with protective buffers containing sucrose and inulin (SI) or glycerol, sucrose, and inulin (GSI) (t₁). The second batch fermentation was conducted with the preserved microbiota after freezing at –80°C, lyophilization, and storage for 9 months at 4°C (t₂). Samples were collected from batch fermentations at different incubation time points for microbiota profiling (red triangles) and metabolite analysis (green triangles) in triplicate.