Simply put, microbiota is the collection of microorganisms that are usually found associated with tissues or organs of animals or plants. In the human body, microbiota are present in the mouth, stomach, intestines, genitourinary and respiratory tracts, eyes, skin, and others.

Although it is distributed throughout all areas of contact with the outside world, most colonization (about 70%) occurs in the gastrointestinal tract.

The focus of most studies on the human microbiome in the last decade, the gut microbiome is interrelated to almost every system in the body, such as the digestive, immune, neurological, cardiovascular, and skin systems.

Thus, gut health is related to a number of factors that often impact our daily lives, such as weight control, sleep, appetite, concentration, mood, disposition, stress, and immunity.

A complex community of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms-and their delicate balance-comprise the normal skin microbiota and contribute to the health and beauty of the skin.

The skin microbiome is as important as the gut microbiome in modulating the human immune system.

When the skin microbiome is in imbalance (cutaneous dysbiosis), the barrier functions are compromised, leading to pH changes, decreased production of antimicrobial peptides, and increased inflammation, which can lead to dermatological diseases such as acne vulgaris, psoriasis, rosacea, dandruff, eczema, atopic dermatitis, or even systemic diseases.

In 1919, Hungarian engineer Károly Ereky first used the term biotechnology. Later, the term was officially defined by the UN – United Nations Organization, in 1992, in the Convention on Biological Diversity, as “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use”.

Often associated with the great advances in human and veterinary medicine and agriculture, biotechnology and its processes have long been known and used. Wine, beer, yogurt and cheese are all results of biotechnological processes.

The concept of probiotics, in fact, is not new. The ingestion of fermented milks was already mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, and Pliny, a Roman historian, recommended the use of fermented milk products for the treatment of gastroenteritis in 76 BC, however, it was not until 1907 that Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov linked the presence of lactic acid-producing bacteria in fermented milks to the possible beneficial effects of their ingestion.

The World Health Organization defines probiotics as “live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer some health benefit. Probiotic microorganisms belong to different genera, both bacteria and yeasts.

Selectively fermented ingredients that result in specific changes in the composition and or activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota, providing health benefits to the host (ISAPP, 2011).

Symbiotics are products containing probiotic microorganisms and prebiotic ingredients simultaneously, resulting in formulations with the functional characteristics of both groups.

By definition, in biology, strain/strain refers to a group of descendants with a common ancestor that share morphological or physiological similarities.

A probiotic strain is cataloged by genus, species, and an alphanumeric identification (known as a strain or lineage). In the case of Bifidobacterium lactis CCT 7858, for example, Bifidobacterium is the genus, lactis is the species, and CCT 7858 is the strain.

Lactobacillus é um gênero de bactérias gram-positivas, anaeróbias facultativas ou microaerofílicas, em forma de bastonete.

O gênero Lactobacillus compreende 56 espécies. Os lactobacilos compostos pelas espécies L. casei, L. paracasei e L. rhamnosus, integram uma fração substancial da microbiota constituída por Lactobacillus spp. na mucosa intestinal humana.

Bifidobacterium is a genus of anaerobic bacteria. They are one of the largest groups of bacteria that make up the intestinal microbiota.

They reside in the colon and promote health benefits to their hosts, and are known as probiotic microorganisms. The genus is composed of 29 species.

Yeasts are single-celled organisms, classified in the kingdom of fungi. Saccharomyces boulardii is one of the few microorganisms used as probiotics that are not of human origin. It has in its favor the largest number of laboratory and clinical trials.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the main microorganism used in industrial processes. The application of S. cerevisiae strains in the production of fermented beverages and foods accompanies the history of mankind’s cultural, technological, and scientific development.

Beta-glucans are polysaccharides that are part of the soluble fraction of dietary fiber.

Beta-glucans from the cell wall of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (1.3 – 1.6), have been extensively used due to their beneficial effects, reported in the scientific literature, associated with improved immune function, and are characterized as a modulator of biological response.

Fermentative processes have occurred since ancient times, but at that time there was no knowledge of how, for example, grapes were transformed into wine. A definition of fermentation that is still widely used is that fermentation is the anaerobic (oxygen-free) mechanism of energy production that does not involve the respiratory chain.

Currently this definition has been further broadened by the fact that some processes that use oxygen and the respiratory chain are also classified as fermentative processes, citing as an example the production of microbial enzymes. Therefore, a new, more comprehensive concept for fermentation is the process that occurs when a microorganism reproduces itself from an appropriate nutrient source to obtain a bioproduct.

Fermentative processes are of great importance in various sectors of interest to society, be it in the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals and agriculture, as well as in the food industry. In the latter sector, very important examples are the production of cheese, yogurt, beer, wine, fermented beverages such as kombucha, kefir, and others.