Bioactive Potential of Probiotic Bacteria-A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Probiotics are living microorganisms that, when consumed in adequate amounts, confer health benefits to the host. Probiotic microorganisms have been used as "food additives" in the functional food industry, which has experienced explosive expansion in recent years. The vast biodiversity of terrestrial and marine environments offers a rich source of untapped microbial diversity, which can hold the key to discovering new strains with unique probiotic properties. They have gained significant attention and recognition for their importance in various biomedical sectors. Therapeutic substances such as vitamins, bacteriocins, enzymes, immunomodulatory chemicals, and short-chain fatty acids are produced by probiotic strains and are essential for sustaining the homeostasis and metabolic processes of consumers. Recent advancements in the field of microbiology have led to significant breakthroughs in understanding the potential benefits of bacterial probiotics beyond the applications associated with gut health. By comprehending the methods by which probiotics modify the typical gut microbiota and offset anomalies in microbial communities, it will be easier to employ probiotics in diet control and disease prevention. A valuable development in the realm of immunization has been the design of probiotic-based vaccines and there is growing evidence that supplementing with probiotics might enhance the body's immune system's response against oral and systemically delivered vaccinations. In the future, the efficacy of probiotics may be enhanced for more nutritionally relevant and clinically effective settings by investing in large-scale intervention and population-based research, which will allow them to be adaptable to each person's biology and microbiota. In this context, this review presents a comprehensive description of food sources fortified by probiotics, their bioactive potential, possible advantages of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of specific diseases, as well as the present and potential directions of probiotic research through application studies.