Review - Sporeforming probiotic bacteria: Characteristics, health benefits, and technological aspects for their applications in foods and beverages

Higher resistance of microbial spores to high temperatures, low pH and high pressures coupled with characteristics such as good stability and rapid germination make their use extremely desirable for the innovative formulation of several probiotic foods, mainly due to the inherent technological limitations of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which represent the main probiotic microorganisms applied in food. Probiotic spores are resistant to several processing conditions employed in the food industry, thus presenting high feasibility of application and guaranteeing the functionality of probiotic foods; in addition, they are able to maintain such characteristics throughout the shelf life of such products stored at room temperature or under refrigeration. This study presents a review of the main characteristics, technological implications, and types of consumption and health benefits of potential probiotic Bacillus spores. Spore-forming probiotics are available in different pharmaceutical forms (sachets, capsules, tablets, pills, liquid suspensions) and used in medical and veterinary fields, and more recently in the food industry. Health benefits of spore-forming probiotics should be intensively studied, evaluating their behavior in the GIT and other anatomical sites, determining the mechanisms of action involved and correlating them with the main beneficial effects on health. Spore-forming probiotics have great potential for applications in the food industry, since they present high resistance to the technological processes and physiological mechanisms of the body, which would be lethal to LAB.