Contents

#### **Preface XI**


#### Chapter 9 **Probiotics, an Alternative Measure to Chemotherapy in Fish Production 151** Olumuyiwa Ayodeji Akanmu

Preface

functional foods.

respective fields.

been accomplished.

tory bowel disease, and prevent cancer.

The quality of our life is linked to our daily diet from food that is considered essential and indispensable to human life. Probiotic foods are a group of functional foods that have been used for centuries especially in fermented dairy products since Metchnikoff associated the intake of fermented milk with prolonged life. Probiotics confer many health benefits to hu‐ mans, animals, and plants when administered in proper amounts. Several recognized profits of probiotics have been proven including the prevention of gastrointestinal infections and antibiotic-associated diarrhea, the reduction of serum cholesterol and allergenic and atopic complaints, and the protection of the immune system. Furthermore, the proper usage of pro‐ biotics could suppress *Helicobacter pylori* infection and Crohn's disease, improve inflamma‐

Many different microorganisms could exert these beneficial effects, and several studies showed the selection methods of strains with high probiotic effect and the development of technologies for the production of improved probiotics. In addition to that, they have been focused on the benefits of the combination of probiotic bacterial strains and prebiotics in

We decided to write this book to discuss the different types of probiotic microorganisms and the uses of probiotics and their applications as presented by international leaders in their

This book consists of several review chapters. Each chapter starts with a brief introduction, including its aims, and then goes on to provide detailed information about the current re‐ search relevant to the field. The authors give an overview of probiotics that they used in their research as important microorganisms that exert beneficial effects on humans and/or animals in a simple way that allows the readers to form a complete picture about these ben‐ eficial microorganisms and their suitability as therapeutic and prophylactic agents. Through these chapters, the authors explored the concept of probiotics and prebiotics and how the selection of probiotic microorganisms is done. They examined the beneficial effects of probi‐ otics and their different applications. Future aspects in the development of technologies for

We believe that our book is an excellent one for scientists, especially those who are interest‐ ed in probiotics. We hope you enjoy reading it. Finally, we would like to thank all the contri‐ buting authors, without whose dedication and brilliant research, this project would not have

**Dr. Shymaa Enany**

Faculty of Pharmacy Suez Canal University

Ismailia, Egypt

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

the production of improved probiotics are also reviewed here.
