Probiotics and associated health benefits emerged as an area of increasing interest in the past few decades. Probiotics confer their beneficial health effects by different mechanisms of action such as preventing pathogen adhesion or colonization, the production of metabolites, and modulation of the immune system by production of immunoglobulins antibodies. The most frequently used probiotics belong to the genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. This review focuses on the health benefits of different bioactive compounds produced by probiotics, their mode of action and applications in food. However, viability of the microbial cells during processing, packaging, and storage of the food should be maintained in the foods supplemented with probiotic microorganisms.

在过去的几十年中，益生菌及其相关的健康益处日益引起人们的关注。益生菌通过不同的作用机制（例如防止病原体粘附或定植，代谢产物的产生以及通过免疫球蛋白抗体的产生对免疫系统的调节）赋予其有益的健康效果。最常使用的益生菌是双歧杆菌属和乳杆菌属。这篇综述集中在益生菌产生的不同生物活性化合物的健康益处，它们的作用方式以及在食品中的应用。然而，在补充有益生菌微生物的食品中，应保持食品在加工，包装和储存过程中微生物细胞的活力。