With the deepening of the research on the relationship between microorganisms and health benefit on the host， scientists have found that some inanimate microorganisms， microorganisms′ components， with or without their metabolites is benefit on the hots. ′Postbiotics′ is widely used in the scientific literature， but lacks a clear definition in domestic and foreign. In this review， the term of ′postbiotics′ was defined based on the scientific research and commercial application. The health benefit of postbiotics， standard regulations at home and abroad and technical problems of postbiotics in industrial application were summarized in this paper. It will be helpful for the scientific research and industrial development of ′postbiotics′.