ISSN: 2574-2701
Authors: Adebisi OO and Oyetayo VO*
Probiotics are live microbial dietary adjuvant that when consumed in adequate amount beneficially affects the host physiology by improving immunity and maintaining balance in the intestinal tract. Recently, awareness of the health benefits of consuming microorganisms as probiotics has increased. Probiotic foods are categorized as functional food, which are foods, or food ingredients that may provide a health benefit beyond their nutritional composition. The efficacy of probiotics largely depends on the amount consumed and the viability of the cells in the food matrix. To this effect, different types of foods were proposed as a carrier for probiotic cells, of all these foods, dairy products offer the most suitable environment for probiotic viability and growth. However, dairy-based probiotic drinks have one or two limitations in term of cost and being unsuitable for lactose intolerant individuals. Considering these limitations, other non-dairy-based food matrices such as malt-based beverages, fruit juices, cereals, vegetables, and some underutilized and under-exploited plants have been suggested as an alternative. One major challenge of using these non-dairy vehicles for delivery of probiotics is the stereotypic nature of people’s thoughts, and taste regarding dairy-based probiotics which has influenced their acceptability and consumption. This review is therefore meant to provide more information on these non-dairy based underutilized alternatives and possible ways to improve its general acceptability.
Keywords: Probiotics; Dairy; Underutilized; Non-dairy; Alternative; Vehicle
