Ethnic and industrial probiotic foods and beverages: efficacy and acceptance

Microbial fermentation is an indigenous process known to be adapted for centuries by different communities and folks for the improvement of the quality of the food. Quality enhancement of the food is mostly carried out by lactic acid fermentation and sometimes probiotic fermentation mainly for the elongation of shelf-life, nutritional value addition and improvement of the sensory property. Technological interventions have led to the commercial production of many indigenous probiotic foods and beverages. The article reviews varieties of ethnic and industrial probiotic food and their distribution throughout the globe. Also, the health perspective, the involvement of microorganisms and their impact on the development of the food product have been elucidated in the article. Moreover, bottlenecks and the direction of research and commercialization with regards to ethnic and industrial probiotic food are of crucial importance and are also discussed in this review.