Review Trends in non-dairy probiotic beverages Fla ´vera C. Prado a , Jose L. Parada a , Ashok Pandey b , Carlos R. Soccol a, * a Laboratory of Biotechnology Process, Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Parana, 81531-970 Curitiba, PR, Brazil b Biotechnology Division, Regional Research Laboratory, CSIR, 695 019 Trivandrum, India Received 30 May 2007; accepted 24 October 2007 Abstract In recent times, there has been an increased interest to adapt healthy diets, which help in preventing diseases, and as a consequence, the study and development of new functional foods has gained much importance. Food additives as probiotics and prebiotics may exert positive effects on the composition of gut microbiota and are subject of intensive research. The allergy to dairy products affect negatively some persons. Lactose intolerance and the cholesterol content are two major drawbacks related to the fermented dairy products. Tra- ditions and economic reasons that limit the use of dairy fermented products in some developing countries promote the idea of reduction of milk components as vehicles for the probiotic agents. At present, some non-dairy probiotic beverages are being commercialized and are discussed in this review. Probably, beverages such as fruit and vegetable juices would be the next food category where the healthy probiotic bacteria will make their mark. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Functional foods; Probiotics; Prebiotics; Fermented milks; Non-dairy beverages Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................... 111 2. Probiotics as functional foods ................................................................... 113 3. Achievements of dairy probiotic beverages .......................................................... 115 4. Non-dairy probiotic beverages .................................................................. 117 5. Perspectives of probiotic beverages ............................................................... 120 References ................................................................................ 120 1. Introduction The development of probiotics in the last two decades has signaled an important advance in the food industry. The number of scientific publications on probiotics has increased a lot stimulated by factors as exciting scientific and clinical findings using well-documented probiotic organisms. Some concerns over the limitations and side effects of the pharmaceutical agents and consumers demand for the natural products have been discussed by Reid (2006). Probiotic is a relatively new word meaning ‘‘for life’’ and it is generally used to name the bacteria associated with the beneficial effects for the humans and animals. The term probiotic was technically defined by an Expert Committee as ‘‘live microorganisms which upon ingestion in certain numbers exert health benefits beyond inherent general 0963-9969/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2007.10.010 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 41 33613191; fax: +55 41 33613674. E-mail address: soccol@ufpr.br (C.R. Soccol). www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Food Research International 41 (2008) 111–123