Probiotics :
Next Generation Sequencing for Safety and Quality

Project Background

The global demand for probiotic products has increased due to their health-promoting benefits. However, the conventional testing protocol to verify the composition of probiotics, strain identity, viability, and potential harmful microbe contamination is could not support the increasing volume in global food trade. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, an emerging tool for food testing, could be the solution to probiotics testing. This project aims to identify best practices and develop guidelines to apply NGS for quality and safety verification of probiotics products in laboratories, and to build the capacity of laboratories in APEC economies for NGS-based testing for probiotics to enhance probiotics testing capacity.