Year: 2016 | Month: June | Volume 6 | Issue 1

Kombucha: Technology, Microbiology, Production,Composition and Therapeutic Value


DOI:June

Abstract:

Kombucha, Tea Kvass, Japanese or Indonesian tea fungus and Manchurian are the most common names for the symbiotic association of bacteria and osmophilic yeast in a form of thick jelly membrane which is cultured in sugared tea. It is slightly sweet, acetic acid-fl avoured beverage also called tea eider the traditional substrate for kombucha preparation is black tea sweetened with 5 to 15% of sucrose and produced during 6 to 10 days of fermentation under aerobic conditions, at a temperature range of 20 to 30°C. The fermentation is two steps fermentation in which, the yeasts ferment the sugar to ethanol, which is further oxidised by the acetic acid bacteria to produce acetic acid which reduces the pH of medium.
Except black tea, different types of other tea’s such as orthodox tea and herbal tea have been used for the production of apple tea wine, using natural and inoculated fermentation. Besides acetic acid, the fermented liquid contains gluconic, glucuronic and lactic acid, among them all glucuronic acid is the main therapeutic agent in Kombucha. Kombucha metabolism produces glucose, fructose, small amounts of ethanol, carbon-dioxide, vitamins C, B1 B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, different organic acids, mainly acetic, gluconic, L-lactic, glucuronic, enzymes and some antibiotically active compounds, and many others. Beverage also contains most of tea ingredients like tea catechines and caff eine. The beverage has been claimed is considered a prophylactic agent and is considered benefi cial to human health.



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@International Journal of Food and Fermentation Technology| Printed by New Delhi Publishers

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