Bifidobacterium

The term probiotic was derived from the Greek word, meaning for life. Kollath initially coined this term in 1953. Probiotics have been around for a very long time. Human ingestion of fermented milk is credited as the origin of the probiotic. Probiotics then gained popularity in animal nutrition. Even in the Vedic era, the importance of fermented milk in the human diet was understood. Microbiologists discovered in the late 19th century that the microflora in the gastrointestinal tracts of healthy people differed from that found in sick people. The pioneering work of Metchnikoff from the Pasteur Institute in the early 1900s can be credited with the initial detection of the beneficial role of these bacteria. To replace dangerous microorganisms with helpful ones, he advised giving these helpful bacteria a cold. Metchnikoff looked into the extraordinary number of Bulgarians who reach their 100th birthday. He claimed that a bacteria in the popular Bulgarian yoghurt was responsible for their good health and longevity, and he called the yoghurt-culturing microbe Lactobacillus Bulgaricus in honour of the Bulgarian people.