Human milk as a potential source for isolation of probiotic lactic acid bacteria: A mini review

Abstract

Probiotics are living microorganism that can be employed as a new approach to promote human health. These organisms are found to have attractive means for health due to their probiotic properties particularly in generating antimicrobial activity. Lactobacillus spp. is one of the main genera commonly used for probiotic purpose. Human milk is a potential source of Lactobacillus spp. and one of the criteria that found beneficial is that it is of human origin, which could be more reliable sources to be used in human. Lack of studies on isolation of probiotic bacteria from human milk was reported and some probiotic properties show a variation between strains from different regions and population. Therefore, it is important to carry out the isolation of Lactobacillus spp. from a large number of species in the genera to facilitate the finding of the most competent strain to be incorporated as probiotic agent. Moreover, to ensure suitability and compatibility for human use, the probiotic agent originated from human milk should not be an exception. In addition, certain probiotics show a great correlation with prebiotic existed in human milk to boost their function and may suggest an added value to be a suitable candidate as probiotic. This review provides an overview of studies related to human milk as the promising sources for isolation of probiotic microorganisms.