Prebiotic and Synbiotic Foods

Human health primarily depends on the diet, as diet plays a fundamental role in revamping the population of intestinal microbiota, which assists in maintaining equanimity of various biological processes in the human body and also prevents diseases. Hence consumers are in demand for food that beneficially affects intestinal microbiota and improves human health. In this vein, prebiotic foods portray the most important foods which are known to perpetuate the load of beneficial microbiota and promote human health. Prebiotics are the fermentable fiber that fastidiously nourishes healthy bacteria and conserves beneficial microbiota habitat in the human gut. The beneficial effect of prebiotics can be enhanced and maintained for a longer time if they are taken in combination with probiotics. Probiotics are live microbes that improve flora in the gut and positively improve human health. The synergistic effect of both prebiotic and probiotic is synbiotic in which a population of live microbes (probiotics) is maintained/increased by using nondigestible fermentable fiber (prebiotics) and is an asset for human health. This chapter brings forth the inexorable background and important details on the sources, characteristics, potential health benefits, and future trends of prebiotic and synbiotic foods across the globe.