Probiotics as functional foods: gut colonization and safety concerns.

Purpose – Early colonization and balance between the beneficial and pathogenic organisms are essential for good nutrition and health. Ability of probiotic cultures to survive and colonize under the intestinal environmental condition led to their application as functional foods. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Endeavour has been made to explore the mechanism of gut colonization, selection criteria for probiotic cultures, mechanism of probiotic action, postulated health benefits and prerequisites of a probiotics food. Findings – Probiotic organisms influence the physiological and pathological process of the host by modifying the intestinal microbiota, thereby affecting human health. Postulated health beneficial properties of probiotics suggest their application as functional foods. Originality/value – Ingestion of cultured milk products containing probiotic cultures may provide health benefits in terms of colonization and normalization of intestinal flora and could be recommended for consumption as functional foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]