What are Postbiotics?
Postbiotics are essential the byproducts of the fermentation process carried out by probiotics, that have a positive impact on our gut microbes. Postbiotics - also known as metabiotics, biogenics, or simply metabolites - are soluble factors (metabolic products or byproducts), secreted by live bacteria, or released after bacterial lysis providing physiological benefits to the host.
They are basically the beneficial “waste” of probiotics. You will find postbiotics in anything you eat that has been fermented.
Examples of postbiotics are
There are various types of postbiotics (3Trusted Source):
- short-chain fatty acids
- cell wall fragments
- bacterial lysates (a mixture made from bacterial components)
- cell-free supernatants (a mixture of compounds produced by bacteria and yeast)
- various other metabolites such as vitamins and amino acids
Waste products, including the bacteria themselves that are digested are responsible for multiple important health-boosting functions in our gut. Some examples of postbiotics are organic acids, bacteriocins, carbonic substances and enzymes. They result naturally just from the microorganisms living.
The terms is also used interchangeably with Paraprobiotics, however Paraprobiotics, sometimes referent to as ghost probiotics are defined as non-viable microbial cells that can either be intact or broken, which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a benefit on the human or animal consumer.