Probiotic products are currently often encountered in our daily life as well as the term “Probotics”. The prevalence of probiotic products is not confined to Japan but extends throughout the world due to individuals’ interest in health based on scientific information. At this point, I would like to look back at the historical background behind the prevalence and globalization of probiotic products, including their concept and the alteration of the definition of probiotics, and think about the scientific aspects of probiotics on the way to biomedical development, starting from the improvement of intestinal disorders by feeding fermented milk and yogurt or bacterial preparation as supplements. Finally, I would like to consider the future of probiotics in relation to the regulation of health claims about probiotic products, which will affect the direction of development of probiotics.

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Many different kinds of bacteria are normally found in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. To study the ecology and function of these intestinal bacteria, the culture method is the basic technique. Suitable agar plates such as non-selective agar plates (BL agar and EG agar) and several selective agar plates have been developed. Furthermore, the roll-tube, glove box, and plate-in-bottle methods have also been developed for the cultivation of fastidious anaerobes which predominantly colonize the intestine. In addition, genomic analyse such as the FISH method, the PCR method, the clone-library method, the DGGE/TGGE methods, the T-RFLP method and metagenome analysis have been used for the investigation of intestinal microbiota in recent years. This paper summarizes the progress and present status of the methods of analysis for intestinal microbiota.

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To investigate the effect of a fermented milk product containing Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult, 1.0×10¹⁰ cfu/100 mL/day, on bowel habits, an open trial was conducted. The subjects were 58 healthy persons (average age 68.8 years) reporting 3 – 5 defecation days/week and showing<70 % of fecal water content. The fermented milk product (test food) was administered daily for 28 days during the intake period. Four weeks consumption of the test food increased defecation times and days, compared with before the intake (p<0.0001). The prevalence rate of subjects who did not defecate more than three consecutive days also decreased during intake, compared with before intake (p=0.013). The increase in stool frequency was accompanied with an increase in stool quantity. Stool consistency as measured using the Bristol Stool Scale (BSS) was not changed in any subject. As assessed by a 5-point Likert scale, the average scores of straining and feeling of incomplete evacuation decreased during the intake period (p=0.022 and 0.0002, respectively). On the other hand, abdominal pain during evacuation and abdominal bloating were not significantly changed by intake of the test food. Color dye transit time through the digestive tract showed no change after four weeks of intake in any subjects. These results suggest that intake of a fermented milk product containing B.breve strain Yakult might be effective for improving the bowel habit in subjects with mild constipation.

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