Probiotic Potential of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeast Isolated from Cocoa and Coffee Bean Fermentation: A Review

The market for probiotic foods has grown significantly in recent years. Some microorganisms isolated from food fermentations, mainly lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts, may have probiotic potential. During the fermentation of cocoa and coffee, a plethora of microorganisms are involved, including yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (LAB), several of which may have probiotic potential. For this reason, this study aimed to overview the probiotic potential of some LAB and yeasts isolated from these fermentation processes. For this purpose, a search was conducted in several specialized databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus). As a result of this search, some strains of LAB and yeasts from cocoa were found to be potentially probiotic, with characteristics like those of commercial probiotic strains. The LAB genera that showed the most substantial probiotic potential were Lactiplantibacillus, Limosilactobacillus, and Lactococcus, while for yeasts, it was Saccharomyces and Pichia.