Probiotic and Prebiotic Dairy Desserts

As a result of scientific advances and consumer trends, the global functional food market has increased significantly in recent years. Moreover, individual choices based on knowledge about the relation between certain foods and healthiness are improving widely. In this line, probiotics and prebiotics show considerable promise for the expansion of the dairy industry, including the dairy desserts sector. Besides a great market potential, chilled dairy desserts are emerging as attractive alternatives for the incorporation of probiotic cultures and prebiotic ingredients by the food industry. Therefore, this chapter focuses mainly on the aspects related to the development of probiotic and/or prebiotic dairy desserts for refrigerated storage.