Probiotics in milk and dairy foods

Milk and its derivatives are important food matrices when looking for the development of functional foods. Identifying the presence of autochthonous lactic acid bacteria with probiotic properties opens the way for the prospect of new isolates that are candidates for probiotics. Cheeses, fermented dairy products, ice cream, and infant formulas have been extensively explored in proposing new functional foods. Industry and consumers benefit from these studies, since probiotic food has the property of restoring the intestinal microbiota, which has been increasingly studied as responsible for the balance between the health-disease processes. Studies have advanced in the discovery of antiviral properties in probiotic bacteria, as well as in the development of recombinant probiotic bacteria. In this sense, this chapter aimed to explore the theme of probiotics considering the milk food matrix. The study of new microorganisms, products, and processes that assist in the development of new innocuous functional foods is also be presented.