Desired Characteristics and Mechanism of Action of Probiotics for Human Health Management

Human body is a living colony of more than 100 trillion bacteria that constitute approximate 5 pounds of weight. Good bacteria empowers your body to fight against health-threatening microbes, provide immunity and help in digestion while bad bacteria cause heart, respiratory and digestive problems including bone health. The use of probiotics help to maintain a balance between good and bad bacteria in gut flora and facilitate in the natural management of your health. A large number of probiotics and prebiotics are available in global market and the probiotic industry is facing new challenges due to increased regulatory mechanism for their acceptance as food, public knowledge and awareness of the value of functional food consumption, particularly after Covid-19, and increased international competition in the food and dairy market. Vast scientific literature on choice and characterization of novel species and strains of probiotics and prebiotics bacteria and yeasts is available in the academic world. The World Health Organization's (WHO) has prescribed basic selection criteria, such as host-associated stress resistance, epithelial adhesion capability, and antibacterial activity that are generally adopted during scientific investigations. These criteria are used to make sure that the probiotic candidate can work properly and endure the demanding conditions of the human digestive system. The use and applications of probiotics in children’s and older people’s food including in the treatment of common ailments has gained the importance in recent years not only in western countries but in Asian and African developing countries and their market is expanding every year. It cannot be expected that these unique microbial strains will provide the biological and health advantages associated with probiotics.