Probióticos e prebióticos para humano e pets: levantamento e caracterização dos produtos disponíveis no mercado varejista no município de Londrina-PR

Abstract

In recent years, it has been possible to observe an increase in the search for functional foods that can help prevent diseases, due to the concern with health and well-being, as several diseases can be minimized with the adoption of good eating habits. Among the various functional foods, those with probiotics, prebiotics or symbiotics in their composition stand out. In this scenario, this work aims to evaluate the availability of food products and animal feeds enriched with probiotics and prebiotics in the retail market in the city of Londrina-PR. The survey of products intended for human and animal food took place between October and November 2021 in supermarkets and pet shops in the city. The characterization of the type of product and the bacteria used was done by reading the information declared by the manufacturers on the product label, and filling out a collection table for further data analysis. Products were evaluated in two supermarkets and hypermarkets of different chains and two pet shops in the city of Londrina-PR, for the survey of items with claims of probiotics or prebiotics. The most common probiotic microorganisms found in the products were Lactobacillus sp (73%), Bifidobacterium sp 21% and E. faecium (6%). Several prebiotics were found in the products evaluated. The prebiotics defined as being non-digestible soluble dietary fiber are the known FOS, GOS, MOS and Inulin. Among these prebiotics, the most frequent were FOS, followed by MOS, Inulin and GOS. Several products had other substances considered as functional components, the most frequent being beta-glucans, followed by green banana flour, apple flour and psyllium. Therefore, we can conclude that although the benefits that probiotic and prebiotic foods bring to human and animal health are known, it is still scarce to find these products available in supermarkets and in the pet trade. For humans, more probiotics were found, most of them being dairy products, while prebiotics are still few and for animals, prebiotics were the most common.