ADVANCED ROLES OF PROBIOTIC BACTERIA IN FERMENTED FOODS FOR THEIR HEALTH RELATED EFFECTS ON HUMANS

Ifrah Javaid, Fatima Asghar, Anum Goraya and Sikander Ali*

ABSTRACT

Probiotics are microbial food supplements that have gain increasingly popular reputation due to the improved scientific evidences of their safe health effects. Food industries have promoted and worked at a broad level to apply them. Probiotics are found to improve nutritional values of food and produce flavored compounds to enhance tastes. From nutritional point of view mainly Lactic acid producing species, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are considered significant and are available for human use. The non-pathogenic, correctly identified strain with no possible antibiotic resistant gene must be selected for human use. Probiotics having Lactic acid bacteria are accessible in the form of fermented dairy products i.e. yogurt, fermented milks and other foods. Probiotics are considered as a part of a healthy diet for improved immune system and intestinal tract health but in some conditions like immunocompromised individuals, the probiotic testing is limited on the immune system and more confirmation is needed to be done for recommendation of probiotics to such patients. Their benefits can be attained either directly through ingestion of live microorganisms or indirectly by the metabolites produced by these microorganisms. The best use is seen in conditions like bowel disorders, lactose intolerance, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, allergies and some other conditions. In this report, beneficial effects of probiotics on human health, their efficacy in treatment, prevention from diseases, mechanism of action and their availability in different ingestible forms is reviewed.

Keywords: Probiotic Bacteria Health Effects Fermented foods Probiotics.