Perception of Malaysian Consumers Towards Probiotics in Fermented Foods and Their Benefits to Human Health
Keywords:
awareness, fermented food, perceptions, probiotics, socio-demographicAbstract
Consumers demonstrated an increase in awareness and interest in food that are closely associated with health benefits. As such, consumers are interested in consuming probiotic products and foods. Probiotics are bacteria that offer various benefits to human health when consumed in sufficient quantities. Numerous probiotic products have been listed, including fermented foods that contain probiotics that are beneficial to human health. Hence, consumers should be aware of these products. This study aimed to analyze the knowledge and awareness of consumers about probiotics and their benefits to human health and to evaluate the perception of consumers towards probiotics in fermented foods based on the socio-demographic profiles. The questionnaire was developed using Google Forms and distributed through social media. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. 150 respondents were involved, but only 133 of the data were selected. Descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the frequency of data from the socio-demographic profiles. Meanwhile, statistical analyses using chi-square analysis was conducted to identify significant difference at p-value < 0.05 between consumers’ socio-demographic profile and their awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of probiotics and probiotics in fermented food. Overall, the survey indicated that consumers were well aware of, and had the knowledge and good perceptions towards probiotics and their presence in fermented foods.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Alves, J.L.D.B., Sousa, V.P.D., Neto, M.P.C., Magnani, M., Braga, V.D.A., Costa-silva, J.H., Leandro, C.G., Vidal, H. & Pirola, L. 2016. New insights on the use of dietary polyphenols or probiotics for the management of arterial hypertension. Frontier in Physiology, 7(448): 221-227. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2016.00448
Amara, A.A. & Shibl, A. 2013. Role of probiotics in health improvement, infection control and disease treatment and management. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 23(2): 107-114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsps.2013.07.001
Arora, M. & Baldi, A. 2017. Selective identification and characterization of potential probiotic strains: A review on comprehensive polyphasic approach. Applied Clinical Research, Clinical Trials and Regulatory Affairs, 4(13): 60-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/2213476X03666161102123716
Arora, S., Prabha, K., Sharanagat, V.S. & Mishra, V. 2020. Consumer awareness and willingness to purchase probiotic food and beverage products: a study of Sonipat district, Haryana awareness. British Food Journal, 11(2): 214-222.
Behera, S.S. & Panda, S. K. 2020. Ethnic and industrial probiotic foods and beverages: efficacy and acceptance. Current Opinion in Food Science, 32(10): 29-36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2020.01.006
Behera, S.S., El Sheikha, A.F., Hammami, R. & Kumar, A. 2020. Traditionally fermented pickles: How the microbial diversity associated with their nutritional and health benefits?. Journal of Functional Foods, 70(2020): 103971. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2020.103971
Bell, V., Ferrão, J. & Fernandes, T. 2017. Nutritional guidelines and fermented food frameworks. Foods, 6(8): 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods6080065
Betz, M., Uzueta, A., Rasmussen, H., Gregoire, M., Vanderwall, C. & Witowich, G. 2015. Knowledge, use and perceptions of probiotics and prebiotics in hospitalised patients. Nutrition and Dietetics, 72(3): 261-266. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12177
Chong, C.L. & Teh, P.H. 2020. Consumer buying behavior towards probiotics Nnutraceutical products in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Research in Business and Management, 2(2): 1-22.
Conti-silva, A.C. & Souza-borges, P.K.De. 2018. Sensory characteristics, brand and probiotic claim on the overall liking of commercial probiotic fermented milks: Which one is more relevant?. Food Research International, 48(1): 37-42.
Dey, G. 2018. Non-dairy probiotic foods: Innovations and market trends. Innovations in technologies for fermented food and beverage industries. Springer. pp. 159-173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74820-7_9
Divya, J.B., Kulangara Varsha, K.K., Nampoothiri, K.M., Ismail, B. & Pandey, A. 2012. Probiotic fermented foods for health benefits. Engineering in Life Sciences, 12(4): 377-390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/elsc.201100179
Faden, A.A., Alotaibi, A.M., Alnofaie, H.S., Alsuhaibani, N.N. & Al Dosary, S. N. 2018. Assessment of Saudi public knowledge, attitude and awareness towards oral benefits of probiotics: A cross- sectional study. Biomedical and Pharmacology Journal, 11(4): 1995-2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13005/bpj/1574
Khalil, E.S., Manap, M.Y., Mustafa, S., Amid, M., Alhelli, A.M. & Aljoubori, A. 2018. Probiotic characteristics of exopolysaccharides-producing lactobacillus isolated from some traditional Malaysian fermented foods. Journal of Food, 16(1): 287-298. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19476337.2017.1401007
Kolady, D.E., Kattelmann, K., Vukovich, C. & Scaria, J. 2018. Awareness and use of probiotics among the millennials in the United States: Drivers and implications. Functional Foods in Health and Disease, 8(10): 505-518. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31989/ffhd.v8i10.536
Lee, J.O. & Kim, J.Y. 2013. Development of cultural context indicator of fermented food. International Journal of Bio-Science and Bio-Technology, 5(4): 45-52.
Liang, C., Sarabadani, Z. & Berenjian, A. 2016. An Overview on the health benefits and production of fermented functional foods. Journal of Advanced Medical Sciences and Applied Technologies, 2(2): 224-233. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18869/nrip.jamsat.2.2.224
Lim, P.S., Loke, C.F., Ho, Y.W. & Tan, H.Y. 2020. Cholesterol homeostasis associated with probiotic supplementation in vivo. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 129(5): 1374-1388. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14678
Macouzet, M. 2012. Alternatives for communicating the health benefits of probiotics. Probiotics Research; 1(2): 15-27.
Nguyen, M., Ferge, K.K., Vaughn, A.R., Burney, W., Teng, L.H., Pan, A., Nguyen, V. & Sivamani, R.K. 2019. Probiotic supplementation and food intake and knowledge among patients and consumers. Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins, 12(3): 824-833. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-019-09602-0
Panghal, A., Janghu, S., Virkar, K., Gat, Y., Kumar, V. & Chhikara, N. 2018. Potential non-dairy probiotic products - A healthy approach. Food Bioscience, 21, 80-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbio.2017.12.003
Payahoo, L., Nikniaz, Z., Mahdavi, R. & Abadi, M.A.J. 2012. Perceptions of medical sciences students towards probiotics. Health Promotion Perspectives. 2(1): 96-102.
Pirbaglou, M., Katz, J., Souza, R.J.de., Stearns, J.C., Motamed, M. & Ritvo, P. 2016. Probiotic supplementation can positively affect anxiety and depressive symptoms: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Research, 36(9): 889-898. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2016.06.009
Pradito, I.Y., Wardana, A.A., Lo, D., Waspodo, P. & Surono, I.S. 2020. Determinants of knowledge and perception of probiotic by Jabodetabek college students. Food Research, 4(5): 1815-1819. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.4(5).133
Ragul, K., Syiem, I., Sundar, K. & Shetty, P.H. 2017. Characterization of probiotic potential of Bacillus species isolated from a traditional brine pickle. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 54(13): 4473-4483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-017-2928-6
Rezai, G., Teng, P.K., Shamsudin, M.D., Mohamed, Z. & Stanton, J.L. 2017. Effect of perceptual differences on consumer purchase intention of natural functional food. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies Article information. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JADEE-02-2015-0014
Rijkers, G.T., Bimmel, D., Grevers, D., den Haan, N. & Hristova, Y. 2013. Consumer perception of beneficial effects of probiotics for human health. Beneficial Microbes, 4(1): 117-121. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3920/BM2012.0050
Sahib, K.P., Kr, P.R., Pal, S.S., Apoorva, S. & Nidhi, G. 2016. Awareness and knowledge of people towards probiotics products in Punjab Region. International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology, 7(1): 154-160.
Sahoo, S., Lenka, C. & Biswal, G. 2017. Knowledge and awareness about health benefits of indigenous fermented foods: A comprehensive study. International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition International, 2(1): 109-113.
Sharma, R., Gupta, S., Gupta, D. & Kushwaha, P.K. 2019. Awareness and knowledge about probiotics among college students. Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 13(4): 2201-2208. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.13.4.33
Sivansakari, D.T., Jeberli, P.B., Gomathy, M. & Kumutha, K. 2013. Isolation and characterization of lactic acid bacteria from fermented foods. International Journal of Current Microbiology Applied Science, 9(2): 1355-1362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.902.158
Soni, R., Tank, K. & Jain, N. 2018. Knowledge, attitude and practice of health professionals about probiotic use in Ahmedabad, India. Nutrition and Food Science, 48(1): 125-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-02-2017-0032
Sorensen, S.A., Rock, C.R., Moore, D.M., Blaine, R.E. & Costa, C.B. 2019. A behavioral assessment of college students' knowledge, awareness, and consumption on snack foods that may contain probiotics. Journal of Food Research, 8(3): 16-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v8n3p16
Tamang, J. P., Kort, R., Hutkins, R., Cotter, P.D., Endo, A., Liu, S.Q. & Mayo, B. 2020. Fermented foods in a global age: east meets west. Comprehensive in Food Science and Food Safety, 1-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12520
Tokatl, M., Gülgör, G., Elmac, S.B., Işleyen, N.A. & Özçelik, F. 2015. In vitro properties of potential probiotic indigenous lactic acid bacteria originating from traditional pickles. BioMed Research International, 2015: 315819. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/315819
Wilson, Z. & Whitehead, K. 2019. A cross sectional survey to assess healthcare professionals' attitudes to and understanding of probiotics. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 34: 104-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2019.08.004
Yilmaz-Ersan, L., Ozcan, T. & Akpinar-Bayizit, A. 2020. Assessment of socio-demographic factors, health status and the knowledge on probiotic dairy products. Food Science and Human Wellness, 9(3): 272-279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2020.05.004
Žuntar, I., Petric, Z., Kovacevic, B.D. & Putnik, P. 2020. Safety of probiotics: Functional fruit beverages and nutraceutical. Foods, 9(7): 947. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9070947
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Any reproduction of figures, tables and illustrations must obtain written permission from the Chief Editor (wicki@ukm.edu.my). No part of the journal may be reproduced without the editor’s permission
