Carlos Ricardo Soccol, Maria Rosa Machado Prado, Lina Marcela Blandon Garcia, Cristine Rodrigues, Adriane Bianchi Pedroni Medeiros and Vanete Thomaz Soccol
Probiotic products have been used worldwide in the last decades. They are significantly gaining popularity and their consumption is associated with increasing levels of health-consciousness and availability in the form of dietary supplements. Probiotics can be defined as microbial cells that have a beneficial effect on the health and wellbeing of the host. The use of probiotics in the treatment of a number of inflammatory conditions is well known, which includes arthritis, pouchitis, Crohn's disease and colitis. Some important actions are also reported such as the control of the intestinal microbiota, decrease of the pathogens population by the production of lactic acids, bacteriocins and other antimicrobial compound forms, prevention or suppression of colon cancer, reduction of cholesterol, improvement of allergic states and treatment of the respiratory tract. In this sense different probiotic products have appeared on the market with different formulations and applications. This paper presents review about probiotics products your use and health benefits.