Probiotics
- Probiotic microorganisms in food. Properties, benefits, safety and enumeration
- What are probiotics?
- Benefits claimed for the ingestion of probiotic bacteria
- Probiotic bacteria and other microorganisms
- Prebiotics
- Characteristics of bifidobacteria
- Mechanisms postulated for the beneficial effects of probiotic bacteria
- Safety of probiotics
- Selection of probiotics
- Minimum concentration of probiotic required for beneficial effect
- Enumeration of probiotic bacteria
- Media for the isolation of probiotic bacteria.
- Survival of probiotic bacteria in commercial yoghurt products
- Some product development considerations
- European Community Regulation no 1924/2006 and health and nutrition claims
- All Pages
What are probiotics?
Probiotics are live microbial, dietary supplements or food ingredients that have a beneficial effect on the host by influencing the composition and or metabolic activity of the flora of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
The concept of probiotics has evolved from the work of Metchnikoff (1908) although the term was probably first used by Lilley and Stillwell (1965)-see table 1. Metchnikoff postulated that the apparent longevity of Balkan peasants was due to their ingestion of milk fermented with Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus.
He hypothesised that the growth of this lactobacillus in the GI- tract would displace other putrefactive bacteria, reduce the concentrations of toxins in the gut and thus improve health.
While ingestion of Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus may result in heath benefits it is now known that this organism cannot survive in the GI- tract and therefore has limited potential for markedly altering the flora of the GI- tract. It is therefore not a probiotic. There is a significant body of research that indicates that ingestion of dairy products fermented with this organism are beneficial to health e.g. they may allow lactose intolerant individuals to tolerate the residual lactose in fermented milk.
Because of the inability of Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus to survive in the GI- tract researchers have advocated other microorganisms as candidates for delivering a range of benefits to consumers.
