Beneficial aspects of probiotics, strain selection criteria and microencapsulation using natural biopolymers to enhance gastric survival: A review

摘要: Probiotics have attained an inevitable status in human life which upon ingestion in appropriate quantity bestow numerous curative benefits. The plethora of services rendered via probiotics include immunomodulation, alleviating the risks of benign tumors as well as malignant carcinomas, treating gastric disturbances, combating pathogenic bacterial strains and mitigating hypertension. Prebiotics being indigestible carbohydrates selectively escalate the growth patterns of good bacteria. Non digestible dietary constituents in synbiotics intensify the persistence and survivability of probiotics and ameliorate the overall health and wellness of the host. Microencapsulation offers utter protection and astounding propensity to shielded probiotic for evasion of all the obstacles of harsh gastric milieu. Well established and documented practices of microencapsulation include emulsion, spray drying and extrusion. Current review summarizes all the corresponding aspects of probiotic, their encapsulation using various biopolymers, improved survival and integration with different food stuff to impart functional properties.