Preface

Probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics are the main ingredients of functional foods that have recently become popular with researchers. Live probiotic cells and their derived postbiotics are frequently applying in commercial pharmaceutical and food-based products. The results of studies demonstrated that these bioactive elements could be linked with the host’s cellular processes and metabolic pathways and possess a vital role in preserving and reestablishing host health. Despite the appropriate outcomes from the use of live probiotics, scientists have presented the postbiotic theory to find its precise mechanisms of action or optimize beneficial effects as well as to meet the requirements of customers to offer a safe product with a health claim. Currently, the scientific literature confirms that a large part of the molecular mechanism of probiotics is related to their derived postbiotics. These biomolecules, due to their unique pharmacokinetic properties, could be used, in their pure form and with high performance in veterinary, medical, and food practice to improve animal growth rate and health status, prevent and/or treat some acute/chronic diseases, and develop functional foods.

On the other hand, postbiotics with their unique features in terms of clinical, technological, and economic aspects can be applying as a promising approach (as potential alternative agents for probiotics and common antibiotics) in the food and drug industry for rising food safety and health effects as well as therapeutic targets. The fermentation process is the most natural production method of postbiotics, which enriches the fermented food matrices with these biomolecules. Nevertheless, postbiotics can be generated in a purer form and with high performance through several laboratory manners, which have the potential to be applied to an extensive range of food matrices to develop their nutritional values, storage stability, and health-promotion aims in customers. In the industry, manufacturers cannot easily add ingredients into the food matrix to produce functional food products that contain postbiotic compounds and, at the same time, have the desired quality and safety properties. Therefore it is indispensable that recognize the inherent characteristics of postbiotic compounds and select appropriate nanostructure carriers to design the best delivery system for the targeted delivery of postbiotics.

The authors would like to especially thank Dr. Hamideh Fathi Zavoshti for her helpful comments on the work.