Minoru Shirota

 was a Japanese microbiologist. In the 1920s Shirota identified a strain of lactic acid bacteria that is part of normal gut flora that he originally called "Lactobacillus casei" Shirota; it appeared to help contain the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut. The strain was later reclassified as being "Lactobacillus paracasei Shirota".
He founded the company Yakult Honsha in 1935 to sell beverages containing the strain, branded Yakult.
He died in Tokyo, Japan in 1982.