Harnessing the Power of Probiotic Strains in Functional Foods: Nutritive, Therapeutic, and Next‑Generation Challenges
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Functional foods are increasingly valued for promoting health and preventing disease, with probiotics occupying a central role due to their well-documented benefits.Defined by FAO/ WHO (2002) and ISAPP consensus (Hill et al., 2014;Marco et al., 2021), probiotics are live microorganisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, confer health benefits to the host.They modulate gut microbiota, improve digestion, strengthen immunity, and contribute to the prevention of chronic conditions.Common sources include dairy products, fermented vegetables, soy-based foods, and beverages, with expanding applications in non-dairy carriers (Shori, 2017).Mechanistically, probiotics produce short-chain fatty acids, regulate pH, reinforce epithelial barriers, inhibit pathogens, and modulate immune responses (Bermudez-Brito et al., 2012; Plaza-Dí az et al., 2019).Strains such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces support lactose digestion, cholesterol reduction (Kumar et al., 2012;Sun et al., 2019), blood pressure regulation (Khalesi et al., 2014), and metabolic health, with emerging roles in gut-brain communication (Hemarajata & Versalovic, 2013).Challenges include strain-specific effects, safety in vulnerable populations (Doron & Snydman, 2015), and maintaining viability during processing (Shori, 2017).Advances such as encapsulation, engineered strains (Anwar et al., 2024), synbiotics (Gibson et al., 2017;Swanson et al., 2020), and postbiotics (Nataraj et al., 2020) highlight future directions.Overall, probiotics represent a safe, multifunctional bridge between nutrition and therapy, with growing potential in preventive and precision healthcare.
Language: English
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4414391135
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