Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Feb;53(2):921-33.
doi: 10.1007/s13197-015-2011-0. Epub 2015 Nov 9.

Probiotics - the versatile functional food ingredients

Gareth Gordon Syngai  1 , Ragupathi Gopi  2 , Rupjyoti Bharali  3 , Sudip Dey  4 , G M Alagu Lakshmanan  2 , Giasuddin Ahmed  3
Affiliations
Review

Probiotics - the versatile functional food ingredients

Gareth Gordon Syngai et al. J Food Sci Technol. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Probiotics are live microbes which when administered in adequate amounts as functional food ingredients confer a health benefit on the host. Their versatility is in terms of their usage which ranges from the humans to the ruminants, pigs and poultry, and also in aquaculture practices. In this review, the microorganisms frequently used as probiotics in human and animal welfare has been described, and also highlighted are the necessary criteria required to be fulfilled for their use in humans on the one hand and on the other as microbial feed additives in animal husbandry. Further elaborated in this article are the sources from where probiotics can be derived, the possible mechanisms by which they act, and their future potential role as antioxidants is also discussed.

Keywords: Functional food; Ingredients; Probiotics; Versatile.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Overall benefits of probiotic bacteria on human health (Anandharaj et al. 2014)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alissa EM, Ferns GA (2012) Functional foods and nutraceuticals in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. J Nutr Metab Article ID 569486 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Sheraji SH, Ismail A, Manap MY, Mustafa S, Yusof RM, Hassan FA. Prebiotics as functional foods: a review. J Funct Food. 2013;5:1542–1553. doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2013.08.009. - DOI
    1. Anandharaj M, Sivasankari B, Rani RP (2014) Effects of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics on hypercholesterolemia: a review. Chin J Biol Article ID 572754
    1. Bach A, Valls N, Solans A, Torrent T. Associations between nondietary factors and dairy herd performance. J Dairy Sci. 2008;91:3259–3267. doi: 10.3168/jds.2008-1030. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Balcazar JL. Evaluation of probiotic bacterial strains in Litopenaeus vannamei: final report. Guayaquil, Ecuador: National Center for Marine and Aquaculture Research; 2003.

LinkOut - more resources