In recent years, new probiotic-related concepts such as postbiotics and paraprobiotics have been used to describe non-viable microorganisms or bacterial-free extracts that may provide benefits to the host by offering bioactivities additional to probiotics. However, several aspects related to these postbiotics and paraprobiotics bioactivities remain unexplored or are poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this work is to provide an overview of the general aspects and emerging trends of postbiotics and paraprobiotics, such as conceptualization of terms, production, characterization, bioactivities, health-promoting effects, bioengineering approaches, and applications. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that some postbiotics and paraprobiotics exhibit bioactivities such as anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-proliferative, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. These bioactivities could be involved in health-promoting effects observed in human and clinical trials, but despite the scientific evidence available, the mechanisms of action and the signaling pathways involved have not been fully elucidated. Nevertheless, paraprobiotics and postbiotics possess valuable potential for the development of biotechnological products with functional ingredients for the nutraceutical industry.

近年来，与益生菌有关的新概念（例如，益生菌和副益生菌）已用于描述非生存性微生物或无细菌的提取物，它们通过提供益生菌以外的其他生物活性可能为宿主带来益处。然而，与这些后生物和副益生生物活性有关的几个方面仍待探索或了解甚少。因此，这项工作的目的是概述益生元和副益生菌的一般方面和新兴趋势，例如术语的概念化，生产，表征，生物活性，促进健康的作用，生物工程方法和应用。体外和体内研究表明，某些益生元和副益生菌具有生物活性，例如抗炎，免疫调节，抗增殖，抗氧化和抗菌。这些生物活性可能参与了在人类和临床试验中观察到的促进健康的作用，但是尽管有科学依据，但尚未完全阐明其作用机理和信号传导途径。然而，副益生菌和后生素在开发具有营养成分行业功能成分的生物技术产品方面具有宝贵的潜力。