Citation: Hadjimbei, E.; Botsaris, G.; Chrysostomou, S. Beneficial Effects of Yoghurts and Probiotic Fermented Milks and Their Functional Food Potential. Foods 2022, 11, 2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/ foods11172691 Academic Editors: Juristo Fonollá and Sandra González-Palacios Received: 16 June 2022 Accepted: 1 September 2022 Published: 3 September 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). foods Review Beneficial Effects of Yoghurts and Probiotic Fermented Milks and Their Functional Food Potential Elena Hadjimbei 1 , George Botsaris 2, * and Stavrie Chrysostomou 1 1 Department of Life Sciences, School of Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia 2404, Cyprus 2 Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus * Correspondence: george.botsaris@cut.ac.cy Abstract: Probiotic fermented milks and yoghurts are acidified and fermented by viable bacteria, usually L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus, resulting in a thicker product with a longer shelf life. They are a nutrition-dense food, providing a good source of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin B2, and vitamin B12. Additionally, they deliver high biological value proteins and essential fatty acids. There is accumulating evidence suggesting that yoghurt and fermented milk consumption is related to a number of health advantages, including the prevention of osteoporosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as the promotion of gut health and immune system modulation. This review aims at presenting and critically reviewing the beneficial effects from the consumption of probiotic fermented milks in human health, whilst revealing potential applications in the food industry. Keywords: yoghurt; fermented milk; probiotics; health benefits; functional food 1. Introduction Yoghurt is among the most popular fermented foods in the world, and enjoys wide consumer acceptability, due to its taste and health benefits. It can be used as accompanier of the main meal or as a snack during the day. The word yoghurt probably originates from the Turkish term “yogurmak”, which means to thicken, coagulate, or curdle [1]. It is believed that yoghurt was accidentally discovered around 5000–10,000 BC with the domestication of milk-producing animals, when at that time, shepherds in the Middle East carried milk in sacks, constructed of intestinal gut, which caused the milk to curdle and sour when it came into contact with intestinal secretions, thus naturally preserving it and enabling a longer storage period for a vital commodity such as milk [2,3]. Noticeably, in the Bible, Abraham owed his longevity and fecundity to yoghurt consumption and known scientists in early ages, such as Hippocrates, recognized fermented milk as medicinal and they recommended it for stomach and bowel disorders [4]. The Mediterranean diet pyramid suggests the daily consumption of moderate amounts of dairy products, principally yoghurt and cheese [5], while dietary recommendations for dairy products throughout the world are 2–3 servings daily [6,7]. Bacillus bulgaricus (now L. bulgaricus), lactic acid bacteria that is still used in yoghurt cultures today, was discovered by Stamen Grigorov, a Bulgarian medical student, in 1905. Based on Grigorov’s findings, IIya Metchnikoff of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, a Russian Nobel laureate, proposed in 1909 that lactobacilli in yoghurt were linked to longevity in the Bulgarian peasant population. The principle of his theory was that the lactic acid bacteria displaced toxin-producing bacteria that are ordinarily presented in the intestine, resulting in prolonged life [2,8,9]. Despite the long-known benefits from the consumption of yoghurts and other fer- mented milks, noticeably, the first industrialized production of yoghurt was reported in 1919, in Barcelona, Spain at a company named Danone [2]. Currently three types of yoghurts Foods 2022, 11, 2691. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11172691 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/foods