A Review on the Potentials of Honey as a Suitable Habitat for Probiotics

Honey, as a stressful food ecosystem, possesses high osmotic pressure, low pH, and contains prebiotic polysaccharides, making it a suitable habitat for probiotic microorganisms. Considering the undeniable effects of probiotics on human health and the evolving applications of probiotics, there is a continuous need to isolate different types of probiotics from less studied sources such as honey. In this review article, researches related to probiotic yeasts and bacteria isolated from honey are presented, and some intrinsic characteristics and techno-functional capabilities of these beneficial microorganisms were discussed. Promising characteristics like antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiaflatoxigenic, cholesterol lowering, anticancer, and immune-modulatory activities of these isolates were also reviewed. Given these emerging capabilities, the isolated probiotic yeasts and bacteria from honey can be potentially used for various purposes in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Keywords:

Honey , Probiotic , Yeast , Food Industry