Trends in non-dairy-based probiotic food products: Advances and challenges

The probiotic-based functional food market is growing progressively as many health benefits are ascribed to it. Researchers have to combat various challenges associated with the addition of probiotic bacteria into food matrices, such as functionality, growth, survival, stability during processing, storage, and viability, along with the changes in sensory attributes. Dairy products are the major delivery vehicle for probiotic supplementation. However, saturated fatty acid, high cholesterol, lactose intolerance, and allergic milk proteins are the major concerns associated with it that affect a particular population. Therefore, there is a need to explore the potential of novel non-dairy food matrices to deliver these beneficial microorganisms to humans. This review focuses on the new developments in non-dairy probiotic products, the interactions of probiotics with various food matrices, and their effect on viability and storage stability. Various challenges and technical difficulties arising during processing are reviewed, including pH, sensory characteristics, and microencapsulation technologies. Practical applications Dairy-based probiotic foods are widely consumed and accepted by consumers around the world. This paper discusses the various alternative to dairy products as several limitations are associated with them. Fruit, vegetable, cereal, legume, and soy may be utilized effectively as the substrate to provide the benefits of probiotics along with dietary fibers to the consumer.