Chapter 11 - Role of Probiotic Microbes Exerting Nutritional Properties

Abstract

Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements exerts benefit to human and animal health by the microbial balance in the intestine. These bacteria have become increasingly popular during the last two decades due to explorative researches pointing to their beneficial effects on human health. They exhibit various mechanism ranges from bacteriocin and short-chain fatty acid production, lowering of gut pH, and nutrient competition to stimulation of mucosal barrier function and immune modulation. Probiotic foods, based on its origin, are categorized as dairy products and nondairy products, which are reported to be anticarcinogenic, hypocholesterolemic, and antagonists against pathogens. Microorganisms used as probiotics mainly include bacterial strains of Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the types Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Pediococcus, and Bacillus species in which lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been used as potential source. They have been found to enhance food quality, microbiological safety, biopreservation, and shelf life. Other potential benefits includes protection against vaginal or urinary tract infection, reduction in ulcers and intestinal tract infections, increased nutritional value, maintenance of mucosal integrity, reduction in catabolic products eliminated by kidney and liver, stimulation of repair mechanism of cells, breaking down and rebuilding hormones, relieving anxiety and depression, formation, maintenance or reconstruction of a well-balanced indigenous intestinal and/or respiratory microbial communities, inhibitory decalcification of the bones in elderly people, and synthesis of vitamins and predigestion of proteins. Probiotic foods act as food supplement and its emergence is recorded globally because of its nutritive value and its therapeutic potential against various ailments of human beings. Various research findings bring out the footstep toward the potentially carcinogenic agents like food dyes, aflatoxins, pesticides, nitrates, and cancer-causing agents in nonfoods such as smokeless tobacco; medications are inactivated by enzyme systems in gut bacteria. Nevertheless, these probiotic effects are still a matter of debate as further research is needed in long-term human studies. Even though tremendous scientific evidences the incorporation of probiotics in nutrition as a means of support to the human health benefits. There is an emerging alarm toward the use of probiotics which increases its role on nutrition and medicine over the next decade because of their application in the prevention, and treatment of various disorders should be considered by medical professionals and promoted by the food industry.