POSTBIOTICS FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE INDUSTRY
ucts Improved microencapsulation techniques would allow postbiotics to be better incorporat- ed into a wider array of food and pharmaceutical preparations. The emerging trend is to use postbiotics, main- ly antimicrobial peptides and bacteriocins to im- prove food safety through development of bio- active and edible packaging, the prevention and control of biofilms in food machinery; and the reduction and degradation of contaminants, such as biogenic amines, pesticides, and mycotoxins. Nevertheless, this area needs to be further inves- tigated, as certain interaction between postbiot- ics and food components could negatively impact on the product taste, odour or appearance (Ve- ra-Santander et al., 2022). Despite the many potential uses for postbiotics in the food and health industries, important safety and regulatory aspects still need to be addressed. Large-scale manufacturing processes for the pro- duction of postbiotics at industrial level need to be developed, as well as new, more efficient tech- niques for the discovery, isolation and charac- terization of novel postbiotics in order to ensure product quality and effectiveness.
Foods enriched with postbiotics can provide sev- eral health benefits such as the regulation of the intestinal microbiota, mitigating of gastrointesti- nal symptoms and heart diseases, while poten- tially providing antioxidant, , anti-inflammatory, psychobiotic, anti-obesity, and antiviral capaci- ties. Although studies to date have characterised nu- merous bioactive postbiotic compounds that have been associated with health-promoting effects in in vivo and clinical studies, the mech- anisms of action largely remain partially or com- pletely undefined. Future studies need to focus on determining mechanistic pathways and fully document clinical health outcomes. More evi- dence is needed, particularly from robust clinical studies, if health claims are to be sought. Further- more, more research is needed regarding micro- encapsulation and postbiotic incorporation into functional foods. To date, postbiotics have mostly been used in the applica- tion of fermented foods, especially in dairy prod-
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