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Background: For many years chemical preservatives have been used in food, to act as either antimicrobials or antioxidants or both. In general, consumers regard additive-free foods as safer since preservatives can cause health hazards like asthma and cancer and are suspected to be mutagenic and neurotoxic. The present study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts of seaweeds, with a view to developing safer food preservatives.

Probiotics are now recognized for several health benefits and they have been recommended as a complementary therapeutic agent for metabolic disorders. Obesity is an altered health condition, which is a resultant of irregular energy intake and energy balance, changes in gut microbiota, and improper diet with the influence of genetic makeup and environmental factors. Several studies revealed the influence of probiotic supplementation on obesity-associated consequences in vitro, in vivo, and in human clinical studies. The current manuscript discussed the factors influencing the occurrence of obesity, the interplay between microbiome and obesity, the effect of the probiotic intervention on the health status of obese people, and possible mechanism of antiobesity activity of probiotics. The literature survey revealed that the antiobese activity of probiotics might be associated with their ability to alter the intestinal microbiota, remodeling of energy metabolism, alter the expression of genes related to thermogenesis, glucose metabolism, and lipid metabolism, and change the parasympathetic nerve activity. Further intense research is necessary to figure out the best probiotic or synbiotic mixture and optimum dosage and duration of the intervention to reduce obesity and prevent the recurring of obese condition.