Dr. Riyaz Sayyed is a Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology at the PSGVP Mandal’s ASC College, Shahada ((KBCNMU, Jalgaon), Maharashtra, India. He has 24 years of research and teaching experience in microbiology and biotechnology. He has published over 132 research papers and 25 book chapters. He has authored and edited 70 books with International publishers like Springer Nature and Cambridge Scholars Press, London. He is an Associate Editor of the Environmental Sustainability Journal, published by Springer Nature.
Dr. Mahejibin Khan is a Senior Scientist at the CSIR- Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, India. She did her post-doctoral research at Japan’s National Food Research Institute, Tsukuba Science City. Dr. Khan’s research focus is on metagenomics and protein modelling, to identify specialty enzymes for food applications. She has highly cited publications in the areas of human-gut microbiome; nutraceuticals and functional foods; role of intestinal commensals in the development of innate immunity etc. Dr. Khan’s laboratory is working on developing resilient models to study neuro-entero-endocrine based disease combating programs.
The bookhighlights the importance of prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics in the signalling mechanism between gut microbiota and brain, also referred to as the gut-brain axis. A stable gut microbiota is essential for normal gut physiology and overall health, since it assists in proper signalling along the brain–gut axis. The book describes how the cross talks between gut microbiota and brain, not only regulate gastro-intestinal functions but also ensure proper functioning of cognitive behaviour and immunological functions. The various chapters describe probiotic microorganisms that colonize gastrointestinal tract and provide an array of health benefits to the host. It further elaborates about certain non-digestible oligosaccharides (prebiotics) are easily fermented by specialist microbes in the gut, to produce health-promoting metabolites and inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
This book is useful for students, researchers and scientists in the field of microbiology, food science and nutrition. It is also meant for industry experts involved in developing nutraceuticals.