General Perspective and Assessment of the Potential of Utilizing Paraprobiotics in Food Products

Abstract

Paraprobiotics are non-viable microbial cells that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer some health benefits to the consumer. Paraprobiotics can be obtained by subjecting probiotics to physical or chemical treatments, and inactivation of the microorganism would lead to the release of some compounds, such as exopolysaccharides, peptidoglycans, surface proteins, and lipoteichoic acids, all of which have a variety of positive health effects. Paraprobiotics also have numerous technological advantages. Therefore, paraprobiotics are promising components and have great potential for producing functional food products. However, there are limited studies, most of which concentrate on using paraprobiotics in clinical research and using them directly. The objective of this study is to summarize the ways to obtain paraprobiotics, their health benefits, technological advantages, and their potential for utilization in food products.

Keywords

• paraprobiotic
• probiotic
• functional food
• non-thermal technologies
• health benefit