The contribution of horticultural products to create innovative functional food benefitting from prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics: A review

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables have an essential impact to improve human health as, in addition to their nutritional properties, they contain dietary fibers and prebiotic compounds showing an important role in modulating human gut microbiota. Beneficial microbes enhance diet by helping to digest food efficiently and also play a tremendous role in boosting immune system. These bacteria are added in various vegetables and animal products to enhance their nutritive properties and commercial impact. The mentioned bacteria in different species of genera Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus, are termed probiotics and defined as live microorganism contributing health benefits to the host when supplied in adequate amount. On the other hand, prebiotics are defined as ‘a substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit’. In addition to prebiotics and probiotics, probiotics are represented by microbial fractions or cell lysates of good bacteria. This review provides an overview of the importance of vegetables and fruits to trigger the circuit involving prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotic with the aim to produce functional food showing a significant impact on human health.