Probiotics: mechanism of action, health benefits and their application in food industries

Anam Latif; Aamir Shehzad; Sobia Niazi; Asna Zahid; Waqas Ashraf; Muhammad Waheed Iqbal; Abdur Rehman; Tahreem Riaz; Rana Muhammad Aadil; Imran Mahmood Khan; Fatih Özogul; João Miguel Rocha; Tuba Esatbeyoglu; Sameh A Korma

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1216674

Probiotics: mechanism of action, health benefits and their application in food industries

Front Microbiol. 2023 Aug 17:14:1216674. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1216674. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Anam Latif¹, Aamir Shehzad², Sobia Niazi³, Asna Zahid⁴, Waqas Ashraf⁵, Muhammad Waheed Iqbal⁶, Abdur Rehman⁶, Tahreem Riaz⁶, Rana Muhammad Aadil⁴, Imran Mahmood Khan⁷, Fatih Özogul^{8

9}, João Miguel Rocha^{10

11

12}, Tuba Esatbeyoglu¹³, Sameh A Korma^{14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.
² UniLaSalle, Transformations and Agroressources Research Unit, Mont-Saint-Aignan, France.
³ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.
⁴ National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁵ School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China.
⁶ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China.
⁷ College of Food and Biological Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen, China.
⁸ Department of Seafood Processing Technology, Faculty of Fisheries, Cukurova University, Adana, Türkiye.
⁹ Biotechnology Research and Application Center, Cukurova University, Adana, Türkiye.
¹⁰ CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal.
¹¹ LEPABE-Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹² ALiCE-Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
¹³ Department of Food Development and Food Quality, Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
¹⁵ School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Probiotics, like lactic acid bacteria, are non-pathogenic microbes that exert health benefits to the host when administered in adequate quantity. Currently, research is being conducted on the molecular events and applications of probiotics. The suggested mechanisms by which probiotics exert their action include; competitive exclusion of pathogens for adhesion sites, improvement of the intestinal mucosal barrier, gut immunomodulation, and neurotransmitter synthesis. This review emphasizes the recent advances in the health benefits of probiotics and the emerging applications of probiotics in the food industry. Due to their capability to modulate gut microbiota and attenuate the immune system, probiotics could be used as an adjuvant in hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, cancer, and gastrointestinal diseases. Considering the functional properties, probiotics are being used in the dairy, beverage, and baking industries. After developing the latest techniques by researchers, probiotics can now survive within harsh processing conditions and withstand GI stresses quite effectively. Thus, the potential of probiotics can efficiently be utilized on a commercial scale in food processing industries.

Keywords: anti-allergic and gastrointestinal diseases; functional foods; immunomodulation; lactic acid bacteria; probiotics.

Publication types

Review