Advances in sequencing and bioinformatics have transformed our understanding of the trillions of micro-organisms that inhabit the human body and their role in regulating digestion, immune response, metabolism and mental well-being.
The pace of scientific discovery is striking. Publications on the gut microbiome have grown rapidly since the early 2000s. A review in 2021 showed 45,207 academic publications related to “gut microbiome” were indexed by the Web of Science Core Collection.
This reflects increasing recognition that microbiome ecosystems are deeply integrated into human physiology, positioning them as a major driver of product development in nutraceuticals, functional food/beverages and dietary supplements.
For much of this evolution, probiotics were the primary tools used to influence the microbiome.
These live probiotic strains have demonstrated clinically significant benefits that enable brands to deliver targeted solutions to both classical areas such as digestive health and immune support … and to emerging health areas such as the gut-brain and gut-metabolic axes.
Today, microbiome science is entering a new phase, as researchers are not only focusing on microbes in isolation but also on the bioactive compounds they produce and, critically, the biological signals they generate within the host.
This shift is driving growing interest in an emerging class of ingredients: postbiotics.
What are postbiotics?
In 2021, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics established a widely cited consensus definition of postbiotics as “a preparation of inanimate micro-organisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host.”
In practical terms, postbiotics are preparations of microbes that have been deliberately inactivated while retaining their ability to give a biological effect.
They may be accompanied by bioactive compounds produced by live bacteria that are no longer colonising the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
The postbiotic preparation must include non-living biomass, meaning it can be whole inactivated bacterial cells, cell fragments or cell wall components.
Unlike probiotics, which must remain viable throughout manufacturing, storage and their journey through the gut, postbiotics deliver biological signals associated with microbial activity without requiring live organisms.
This distinction reflects an important scientific insight: many of the health benefits attributed to beneficial microbes are mediated not solely by their presence, but by the compounds they produce and the way they interact with host tissues and immune pathways.
Emerging research, supported by both clinical and mechanistic studies, shows that these microbial-derived components can influence key physiological processes, including immune modulation, gut barrier integrity and metabolic signalling.
As a result, postbiotics are gaining attention as a complementary strategy within the broader biotics landscape.
From concept to evidence: postbiotics in action
Although the conceptual framework for postbiotics is now well established, the next phase of innovation is being driven by strain-specific evidence that demonstrates how these inactivated microbes interact with the host.
Postbiotics retain biologically active structures and metabolites that can engage with intestinal cells and immune receptors, influencing pathways linked to inflammation, barrier function and metabolic regulation.
Because they do not rely on survival or colonisation, their effects can be more controlled and predictable — an important advantage in both research and product development.
A clear example is the probiotic strain Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus 271 (human origin, DSM6594) from Probi. This well-characterised strain has been extensively studied in its live probiotic form.
Clinical research has shown that supplementation with the live strain supports immune balance, including the increased expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and the reduced activation of T-cell markers associated with immune reactivity.
Recent in vitro studies demonstrate that these benefits extend to the postbiotic form of the same strain.
Using a coculture model that mimics the interaction between the intestinal barrier and immune system, heat-inactivated L. rhamnosus 271 (Rham271h) was found to have an anti-inflammatory profile.
Notably, the postbiotic significantly increased the secretion of IL-10, an important cytokine involved in maintaining immune tolerance while maintaining balanced levels of proinflammatory markers such as TNF-α and chemokines, including CXCL10 and MCP-1.
These findings are particularly relevant in the context of gut barrier function and immunity.
Disruption of the intestinal barrier, often referred to as increased permeability or leaky gut, can trigger chronic low-grade inflammation through immune activation.
By supporting balanced immune signalling and interacting with epithelial cells, postbiotics may help to mitigate these effects and support gut homeostasis.
From an application perspective, this type of strain-specific evidence reinforces a key advantage of postbiotics: they provide a robust, stable way to deliver microbiome-derived benefits in formats wherein live micro-organisms may be less suitable.
A next phase in microbiome innovation
For brands, nutraceutical and functional food/beverage product developers, postbiotics represent a significant opportunity.
As microbiome science continues to become more sophisticated, the industry is quickly moving toward multilayered approaches that combine live microbes, microbial substrates and microbial-derived bioactives to deliver targeted benefits.
Postbiotics are therefore not a replacement for probiotics, but an expansion of the microbiome innovation toolkit.
Their defined composition and formulation flexibility make them particularly attractive for product categories in which maintaining microbial viability is challenging.
As a result, innovation is shifting from single-ingredient solutions toward integrated strategies that leverage multiple microbiome-derived mechanisms of action.
Formulation possibilities for product developers
One of the most compelling advantages of postbiotics lies in their practical application during formulation and product development.
Unlike live micro-organisms, postbiotics do not require viability throughout manufacturing or shelf-life. This allows greater flexibility during processing and product design.
For example, postbiotics can offer improved heat stability and storage resilience, making them suitable for a wider range of product formats, including those wherein probiotic survival is difficult to maintain.
In addition, their defined nature supports more predictable functionality, enabling brands to develop products with targeted health positioning supported by scientific evidence.
Increasingly, strain-specific postbiotic data are allowing developers to link formulation advantages with measurable biological outcomes.
Expanding opportunities across product categories
With microbiome science continuing to evolve, both probiotics and postbiotics are finding new and exciting applications and delivery formats in a range of product categories.
Functional foods will remain a key area of development, with manufacturers incorporating microbiome-supporting ingredients into snacks, fortified foods and dairy alternatives.
The beverage sector is also seeing strong innovation, with ready-to-drink functional beverages, wellness shots and fermented drinks offering promising delivery formats.
Sports/active nutrition is another rapidly growing area. As interest in performance and recovery increases, consumers are recognising the role of gut health to support resilience and overall well-being.
Given the demanding formulation requirements in this category, postbiotics, with their stability and flexibility, are particularly well-suited to bolster next-generation product development and brands that want to future-proof their offerings.
Complementary solutions, not competing technologies
But, although postbiotics represent an exciting advancement, they are not intended to replace probiotics. Instead, the next step in microbiome innovation lies in combining complementary approaches.
Whereas probiotics introduce beneficial micro-organisms into the gut, postbiotics deliver the bioactive compounds associated with microbial activity that allow for a broader range of applications.
Together, these approaches enable more sophisticated, multicomponent solutions that combine microbial presence with targeted functional outputs.
And, as microbiome science continues to advance, ingredient innovation will play a central role in what’s next for health and nutrition products.
For nutraceutical brands, the focus is moving away from simply adding a probiotic strain to designing comprehensive microbiome strategies grounded in scientific validation and targeted functionality.
Building on decades of probiotic research while advancing emerging areas such as postbiotics enables the industry to develop precise, effective and differentiated health solutions.
