ABSTRACT
This chapter is an overview of dairy-based products in the functional food market [37], various traditional fermented beverages with their health benefits. Fermentation is a traditional method of food preservation, which further improves its nutritional and functional quality. Lactic acid and probiotic bacteria play a key role in the fermentation of dairy products, endowed with health beneficial and therapeutic properties like antidiabetic, cholesterol-lowering prevent tumor formation, etc. Bioactive components or functional ingredients are produced during milk fermentation, thus the term “dairyceuticals.” Majority of the functional food market is contributed by probiotic (strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria) and prebiotic (GOS, FOS, lactulose, etc.) and dairy products serve as an ideal vehicle for delivery into the human gut for their maximum survivability. Fermented products in the form of beverages (yogurt-based drinks, kefir, Koumiss, and ymer) are most acceptable form, in which various bioactive ingredients can be easily fortified like vitamins, minerals, plant extract, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids.
