Abstract
The relationship between diet, gut microbiota and human health is finding increasing scientific evidence. Microbiota imbalance can cause various metabolic diseases in the human body. One of the factors that can significantly affect dysbiosis is human nutrition. Therefore, interest in functional products and beverages, especially with probiotic effects, has enhanced worldwide in recent years. A valuable secondary product possessing nutritional and biological value, promising for creating the base of functional beverages is whey. This review presents various aspects of whey and probiotic starter microorganism’s impact in intestinal microbiota correction. Possible ways to enhance functional properties and stability of whey-based beverages are summarized. Introduction of metabiotics with certain properties and chemical structure into beverages enables to obtain functional target products optimizing physiological functions specific for the host organism. Whey in its untreated form and fermented by probiotics, with the addition of prebiotics, various bioactive natural plant ingredients or metabiotics can serve as a highly effective functional beverage, having antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral effects, capable of correcting the digestive tract microbiocenosis and human health in general.