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Review
. 2019 Jul 13;11(7):1591.
doi: 10.3390/nu11071591.

Probiotics in Food Systems: Significance and Emerging Strategies Towards Improved Viability and Delivery of Enhanced Beneficial Value

Antonia Terpou  1 , Aikaterini Papadaki  2 , Iliada K Lappa  2 , Vasiliki Kachrimanidou  2 , Loulouda A Bosnea  3 , Nikolaos Kopsahelis  4
Affiliations
Review

Probiotics in Food Systems: Significance and Emerging Strategies Towards Improved Viability and Delivery of Enhanced Beneficial Value

Antonia Terpou et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Preserving the efficacy of probiotic bacteria exhibits paramount challenges that need to be addressed during the development of functional food products. Several factors have been claimed to be responsible for reducing the viability of probiotics including matrix acidity, level of oxygen in products, presence of other lactic acid bacteria, and sensitivity to metabolites produced by other competing bacteria. Several approaches are undertaken to improve and sustain microbial cell viability, like strain selection, immobilization technologies, synbiotics development etc. Among them, cell immobilization in various carriers, including composite carrier matrix systems has recently attracted interest targeting to protect probiotics from different types of environmental stress (e.g., pH and heat treatments). Likewise, to successfully deliver the probiotics in the large intestine, cells must survive food processing and storage, and withstand the stress conditions encountered in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Hence, the appropriate selection of probiotics and their effective delivery remains a technological challenge with special focus on sustaining the viability of the probiotic culture in the formulated product. Development of synbiotic combinations exhibits another approach of functional food to stimulate the growth of probiotics. The aim of the current review is to summarize the strategies and the novel techniques adopted to enhance the viability of probiotics.

Keywords: encapsulation; enhanced cell viability; functional food products; prebiotics; probiotics; synbiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Criteria for the selection of probiotic strains.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Factors affecting viability of probiotics in food products (during processing and storage), as well as in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic presentation of the main advantages of probiotics encapsulation.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Beneficial effects of synbiotics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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