Heat-killed probiotics use: A promising alternative regarding the development of health-promoting foods.

Abstract

Consumer diet habits have become healthier these past years due to consumers’ desire to achieve the best well-being. This has been made possible through the development of various functional foods that could adequately provide some health benefits beyond necessary nutrients for humans when they are consumed as part of the diet and on a regular basis. The beneficial effect of these functional foods are summarized globally in two possible ways: either indirectly as a desired result of biogenic effect or through the direct interaction of ingested live microorganisms with the host (probiotic effect). However, the safety profile of the use of these live probiotics is still a bone of contention because of its associated risks including interference with the gut colonization in neonates and cases of systemic infection. To avoid these risks, there is an increasing interest in non-viable microorganisms to be used as probiotics: heat-killed probiotics. This paper gives an insight into these heat-killed probiotics with a key focus on the health benefits they could provide in order to position them as an interesting component that could be used for the development of functional foods.