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
. 2022 Apr 2;8(4):365.
doi: 10.3390/jof8040365.

Assessment of Yeasts as Potential Probiotics: A Review of Gastrointestinal Tract Conditions and Investigation Methods

Nadia S Alkalbani  1 , Tareq M Osaili  2   3 , Anas A Al-Nabulsi  3 , Amin N Olaimat  4 , Shao-Quan Liu  5 , Nagendra P Shah  6 , Vasso Apostolopoulos  7   8 , Mutamed M Ayyash  1
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of Yeasts as Potential Probiotics: A Review of Gastrointestinal Tract Conditions and Investigation Methods

Nadia S Alkalbani et al. J Fungi (Basel). .

Abstract

Probiotics are microorganisms (including bacteria, yeasts and moulds) that confer various health benefits to the host, when consumed in sufficient amounts. Food products containing probiotics, called functional foods, have several health-promoting and therapeutic benefits. The significant role of yeasts in producing functional foods with promoted health benefits is well documented. Hence, there is considerable interest in isolating new yeasts as potential probiotics. Survival in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), salt tolerance and adherence to epithelial cells are preconditions to classify such microorganisms as probiotics. Clear understanding of how yeasts can overcome GIT and salt stresses and the conditions that support yeasts to grow under such conditions is paramount for identifying, characterising and selecting probiotic yeast strains. This study elaborated the adaptations and mechanisms underlying the survival of probiotic yeasts under GIT and salt stresses. This study also discussed the capability of yeasts to adhere to epithelial cells (hydrophobicity and autoaggregation) and shed light on in vitro methods used to assess the probiotic characteristics of newly isolated yeasts.

Keywords: autoaggregation; coaggregation; gastric; intestine; probiotics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Total number (%) of isolated yeast genera under gastrointestinal conditions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Survival rate (%) of yeasts under gastric conditions in descending order according to genera. * is outliners.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Survival rate (%) of yeasts under intestinal conditions. o = outliners.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic in vitro digestion method. SSF, simulated salivary fluid; SGF, simulated gastric fluid; SIF, simulated intestinal fluid.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Total number (%) of isolated yeast genera after NaCl stress.
Figure 6
Figure 6
MIC (g/L) of yeasts under NaCl conditions in descending order according to genera. o = outliners.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Total number (%) of isolated yeast genera that underwent the autoaggregation test.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Autoaggregation (%) in descending order according to yeast genera. o = outliners.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Total number (%) of isolated yeast genera measured as the hydrophobicity ability towards n-hexadecane.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Hydrophobicity (%) towards n-hexadecane in descending order according to yeast genera.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Hill C., Guarner F., Reid G., Gibson G.R., Merenstein D.J., Pot B., Morelli L., Canani R.B., Flint H.J., Salminen S., et al. Expert consensus document: The international scientific association for probiotics and prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2014;11:506–514. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2014.66. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ashaolu T.J. Immune boosting functional foods and their mechanisms: A critical evaluation of probiotics and prebiotics. Biomed. Pharmacother. 2020;130:110625. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110625. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ahmad S., Al-Shabib N.A. Functional Food Products and Sustainable Health. Springer; Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany: 2020.
    1. Wang X., Han M., Zhang M., Wang Y., Ren Y., Yue T., Gao Z. In vitro evaluation of the hypoglycemic properties of lactic acid bacteria and its fermentation adaptability in apple juice. LWT. 2021;136:110363. doi: 10.1016/j.lwt.2020.110363. - DOI
    1. Dargahi N., Johnson J., Donkor O., Vasiljevic T., Apostolopoulos V. Immunomodulatory effects of Streptococcus thermophilus on U937 monocyte cell cultures. J. Funct. Foods. 2018;49:241–249. doi: 10.1016/j.jff.2018.08.038. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources