A review on Bacillus coagulans as a Spore-Forming Probiotic

Growth of beneficial probiotics is attributed to their tolerance to stress factors while most probiotics have a relatively short and unstable shelf life. Bacillus coagulans, an economically important spore-forming species, is becoming increasingly remarkable in field of probiotics for the decrease of harmful effects of processing and environment conditions on the survival of bacterial cells and to assure their functionality in the human body. The aim of this review was to explore scientific research on therapeutic, functional and biosafety properties of Bacillus coagulans as a novel probiotic. Many scientific literatures have been published on the use of health promoting Bacillus spores in foods. Bacillus coagulans mostly includes several health benefits of non-spore forming probiotics and is able to tolerate heat and stressful requirements of food processing as well as gastrointestinal tract conditions. Considering specific characteristics of spore-forming probiotics, Bacillus coagulans demonstrates a promising potential in production of probiotic foods. The authors declare no conflict of interest.