Probiotics and Traditional Fermented Foods: The Eternal Connection (Mini-Review)

Interactions of probiotic bacteria with the host and the impact of this interaction continue to fascinate microbial biotechnologists. Highlights of these influences of bacteria on human systems have been obtained from comparisons using germ free and conventional experimental animals. Where applied, outcomes and therapeutic uses are involved.There is a need to diversify the sources of isolation of probiotic bacteria to include fermented traditional foods of different societies. This approach invites more comprehensive research on different models to prove probiotics efficacy in a very well-defined patient groups pertaining to varied geographical locations, different ethnic communities and cultural values. Such invitation, no doubt, is motivated by the pressing need to develop and design alternatives to drugs causing bacterial resistance and risky side effects as well as complimentary treatments for other non-microbial diseases.