Nutraceuticals and functional beverages: Focus on Prebiotics and Probiotics active beverages

Consumer interest and demand are increasing worldwide and this is concentrated more towards functional foods, food supplements, and nutraceuticals containing micronutrients with health-promoting effects. This chapter is dedicated to giving an updated picture on nutraceuticals and functional beverages- in particular with a focus on beverages containing prebiotics and probiotics. A wide range of new products is becoming available on the market as a reply to the growing consumer demand. In particular, pro-and pre-biotics, as well as nutraceuticals, are among the main targets of choice for health beneficial properties. Even if a definition and specific role of nutraceuticals is still to be shared worldwide, and until now, they are considered within the framework of the regulations set for the food supplements, a recent definition has been proposed. According to this one, nutraceuticals are extracted from foods of vegetal or animal origin as Phyto-complexes (if from a vegetal matrix) or as the pool of the secondary metabolites (if of animal origin). The current interest and ongoing worldwide research aim to shed light and fully clarify their mechanism of action, their safety, and efficacy by substantiating their role using clinical data. An updated shot of the main classes of functional beverages is here illustrated. The focus has been addressed on prebiotics and probiotics beverages, with particular regard to their beneficial properties and possible applications. The market demand for prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics beverages is increasing, and many new products are being developed following both the increasing consumers demand and the need for availability of “all natural” products to be useful as healthy preventive tools before the need to adopt a pharmacological approach to many health conditions.