What is it about?
This article explores how certain fungi, especially beneficial yeasts, can act as probiotics. It explains their special properties, such as surviving in the gut, supporting digestion, boosting immunity, and resisting harmful microbes. It also highlights their potential uses in treating digestive disorders and in developing new functional foods and therapies.
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Why is it important?
This chapter is important because fungal probiotics offer unique benefits that bacterial probiotics cannot always provide. They can survive harsh gut conditions, resist antibiotics, and help restore balance in the gut microbiome. This makes them valuable for preventing and managing digestive diseases, improving overall health, and creating new food and medical applications. As research expands, fungal probiotics could play a key role in next-generation microbiome-based therapies.
Perspectives
My perspective is that fungal probiotics are still an underexplored but highly promising area of research. While bacterial probiotics are well studied, fungi like Saccharomyces boulardii show unique advantages that could be harnessed for gut health, immunity, and disease management. I believe that with more clinical studies and innovative applications, fungal probiotics will become an important part of personalized nutrition, functional foods, and next-generation therapies.
Dr. Abrar Hussain
University of Karachi
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Fungi as Probiotics, July 2025, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1201/9781003594840-22.
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