Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics: The Changing Paradigm of Functional Foods

Abstract

The rampant use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multidrug resistance and is often coupled with gut dysbiosis. To circumvent the harmful impact of antibiotics, probiotics have emerged as an effective intervention. However, while the new probiotics are being added to the list, more recently, the nature and role of their counterparts, viz. prebiotics, postbiotics and parabiotics have also drawn considerable attention. As such, intricate relationships among these gut-biotics vis-à-vis their role in imparting health benefits is to be delineated in a holistic manner. Prebiotic dietary fibers are selectively fermented by probiotics and promote their colonization in the gut. The proliferation of probiotics leads to production of fermentation by-products (postbiotics) which affect the growth of enteropathogens by lowering the pH and producing inhibitory bacteriocins. After completing life-cycle, their dead remnants (parabiotics e.g. exopolysaccharides and cell wall glycoproteins) also inhibit adhesion and biofilm formation of pathogens on the gut epithelium. These beneficial effects are not just endemic to gut but a systemic response is witnessed at different gut-organ axes. Thus, to decipher the role of probiotics, it is imperative to unravel the interdependence between these components. This review elaborates on the recent advancements on various aspects of these gut-biotics and the mechanism of potential attributes like anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, anti-lipidemic and anti-hyperglycemic benefits.

Keywords:

• Parabiotics
• postbiotics
• prebiotics
• probiotics
• synbiotics

Disclosure statement

Authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

Authors (NK-principal investigator; SN-research fellow) are thankful to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi for the financial support received under extramural project 2021-14350.

Notes on contributors

Naveen Kango

Prof. Naveen Kango is Chair, Department of Microbiology and Director, Academic Affairs, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya (A Central University), Sagar, MP, India. His research interest includes Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics, Food nutrition, Diabetology and Microbial Enzymes (mannanases, keratinases).

Suresh Nath

Suresh Nath is ICMR-Fellow and final year Ph.D. student in the Department of Microbiology, School of Biological Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya (A Central University), Sagar, M.P., India. His research interest are Microbial enzymes, Prebiotics, Probiotics, Postbiotics and food science and nutrition.