Probiotics are microorganisms that some have claimed provide
health benefits when consumed.[1] The term probiotic is currently
used to name ingested microorganisms associated with beneficial
effects to humans and animals.[2]
Introduction of the concept is
generally attributed to Nobel Prize recipient Eli Metchnikoff, who in
1907 suggested that "the dependence of the intestinal microbes on
the food makes it possible to adopt measures to modify the flora in
our bodies and to replace the harmful microbes by useful
microbes".[3] A significant expansion of the potential market for
probiotics has led to higher requirements for scientific substantiation
of putative beneficial effects conferred by the microorganisms.