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"kombucha"
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Microbial Diversity and Characteristics of Kombucha as Revealed by Metagenomic and Physicochemical Analysis
Kombucha is a fermented tea made from a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) with a long history of use as a health tonic. It is likely that most health benefits come from the tea and fermentation metabolites from specific microbial communities. Despite its growing importance as a functional health drink, the microbial ecosystem present in kombucha has not been fully documented. To characterize the microbial composition and biochemical properties of ‘The Good Brew’ original base kombucha, we used metagenomics amplicon (16S rRNA and ITS) sequencing to identify the microbial communities at the taxonomic level. We identified 34 genera with 200 microbial species yet described in kombucha. The dominance of organic acid producing microorganisms Acetobacter, Komagataeibacter and Starmerella are healthy for the human gut and their glucose metabolising activities have a putative role in preventing conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Kombucha contains high protein (3.31 µg/mL), high phenolic content (290.4 mg/100 mL) and low sugars (glucose: 1.87 g/L; sucrose 1.11 g/L; fructose: 0.05 g/L) as compared to green tea. The broad microbial diversity with proven health benefits for the human gut suggests kombucha is a powerful probiotic. These findings are important to improve the commercial value of kombucha and uncover the immense prospects for health benefits.
Journal Article
Acid contents and the effect of fermentation condition of Kombucha tea beverages on physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties
Kombucha is a healthy beverage which is a final result of tea fermentation by adding a starter culture of the acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. The effect of fermentation conditions on physicochemical, microbiological and sensory properties of Kombucha tea beverages was evaluated with emphasis placed on determining sugars and organic acids content, including pro-health glucuronic acid. Fermentation process was conducted for 10 days at 20°C, 25°C and 30°C. The optimal conditions for the fermentation of Kombucha tea beverages were a temperature of 25°C and a period of 10 days which allowed to retrieve a product with good physicochemical, microbiological and sensory quality. The content of glucuronic acid increased during fermentation at all temperatures reaching the highest, on the 10th day of fermentation at 25°C. It was observed that all beverages were a good overall quality, whereas Kombucha fermented at 25°C was assessed as the highest.
Journal Article
Effects of Fermentation Time and Type of Tea on the Content of Micronutrients in Kombucha Fermented Tea
The fermented tea beverage Kombucha is obtained through a series of biochemical and enzymatic reactions carried out by symbiotic cultures of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY). It contains organic acids, vitamins, amino acids, and biologically active compounds, notably polyphenols, derived mainly from tea. Kombucha exhibits a range of health-promoting properties, including antioxidant or detoxifying effects. This fermented beverage is traditionally brewed with black tea, but other types of tea are used increasingly, which may have significant implications in terms of chemical composition and health-promoting effects. In this preliminary study, we investigated the content of micronutrients (manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr) and zinc (Zn)) by the ICP-OES method in Kombucha prepared with black, red, green and white tea at different time points of fermentation (1, 7, 14 days). It should be noted that the composition of separate ingredients such as tea, leaven or sugar has not been studied. Kombucha had the highest content of zinc—0.36 mg/L to 2.08 mg/L, which accounts for between 3% and 26% of the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for adults, and the smallest amounts of chromium (0.03 mg/L to 0.09 mg/L), which however represents as much as between 75% and 232% of the RDA. It has been demonstrated that the type of tea as well as the day of fermentation have a significant effect on the concentrations of selected minerals. Kombucha can therefore supplement micronutrients in the human diet.
Journal Article
Kombucha Tea—A Double Power of Bioactive Compounds from Tea and Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts (SCOBY)
Kombucha is a low alcoholic beverage with high content of bioactive compounds derived from plant material (tea, juices, herb extracts) and metabolic activity of microorganisms (acetic acid bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts). Currently, it attracts an increasing number of consumers due to its health-promoting properties. This review focuses on aspects significantly affecting the bioactive compound content and biological activities of Kombucha tea. The literature review shows that the drink is characterized by a high content of bioactive compounds, strong antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. Factors that substantially affect these activities are the tea type and its brewing parameters, the composition of the SCOBY, as well as the fermentation parameters. On the other hand, Kombucha fermentation is characterized by many unknowns, which result, inter alia, from different methods of tea extraction, diverse, often undefined compositions of microorganisms used in the fermentation, as well as the lack of clearly defined effects of microorganisms on bioactive compounds contained in tea, and therefore the health-promoting properties of the final product. The article indicates the shortcomings in the current research in the field of Kombucha, as well as future perspectives on improving the health-promoting activities of this fermented drink.
Journal Article
Chemical Profile and Antioxidant Activity of the Kombucha Beverage Derived from White, Green, Black and Red Tea
Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage prepared as a result of the symbiotic nature of bacterial cultures and yeast, the so-called SCOBY (Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeasts). Kombucha is characterised by rich chemical content and healthy properties. It includes organic acids, minerals and vitamins originating mainly from tea, amino acids, and biologically active compounds—polyphenols in particular. Kombucha is prepared mainly in the form of black tea, but other tea types are increasingly often used as well, which can significantly impact its content and health benefits. This work shows that the type of tea has a significant influence on the parameters associated with the antioxidant potential, pH, as well as the content of acetic acid, alcohol or sugar. Red tea and green tea on the 1st and 14th day of fermentation are a particularly prominent source of antioxidants, especially polyphenols, including flavonoids. Therefore, the choice of other tea types than the traditionally used black tea and the subjection of these tea types to fermentation seems to be beneficial in terms of the healthy properties of kombucha.
Journal Article
Kombucha Beverages Produced from Fruits, Vegetables, and Plants: A Review on Their Pharmacological Activities and Health Benefits
Kombucha is a traditional health beverage produced by fermenting sweetened tea with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts. Consumption of kombucha beverages has been growing and there is kombucha commercially available worldwide as one of the most famous low-alcohol beverages. Kombucha beverages have been claimed to have beneficial effects on human health because they contain a variety of bioactive compounds that possess various functional properties. At present, several kinds of raw material (e.g., milk, fruit, vegetables, and herbs) have been fermented with kombucha consortium and consumed as kombucha beverages. Although several studies have been written regarding the biological activities of kombucha and raw materials, there is however little information available on the characterization of their components as well as the biological activities of fermented kombucha from many raw material mixtures. Several pharmacological activities were reviewed in the scientific literature, describing their potential implications for human health. In addition, the adverse effects and toxicity of kombucha consumption were also reviewed. In this study, we focused on the main and latest studies of the pharmacological effects of kombucha beverages produced from various kinds of raw materials, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, and antihyperlipidemic effects in in vitro and in vivo studies.
Journal Article
Functional properties of hard kombucha brewed with deep ocean water using Lachancea thermotolerans
Hard kombucha is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of a 40% (v/v) kombucha solution with selected yeast strains and sugar. Among 35 yeast strains examined,
Lachancea thermotolerans
, known for its high ethanol production, was selected to prepare hard kombucha using tap and deep ocean water. After 21 days of fermentation, the pH of the filtered tap water hard kombucha (TWHK) and deep ocean water hard kombucha (DOWHK) decreased to 2.6–2.69. In contrast, their titratable acidity (TA) increased to 93.68 g acetic acid/L and 107.73 g acetic acid/L, respectively. The ethanol content reached 3.87% alcohol by volume (ABV) in TWHK and 3.92% in DOWHK. DOWHK produced higher levels of organic acids compared with TWHK. Analysis of volatile compounds revealed a shift toward fruity and sweet flavors, with no noticeable off-flavors. Additionally, sensory analysis using an electronic tongue sensor system revealed that DOWHK exhibited greater sourness, astringency, umami, and saltiness than TWHK. Both beverages showed similar antimicrobial activities against
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Escherichia coli
,
Helicobacter pylori
, and
Salmonella
spp. However, DOWHK suppressed α-glucosidase activity 1.63 times more effectively than TWHK. This study supports the use of deep ocean water in the development of functional fermented beverages for industrial applications.
Journal Article
Unraveling microbial ecology of industrial-scale Kombucha fermentations by metabarcoding and culture-based methods
Abstract
Kombucha, historically an Asian tea-based fermented drink, has recently become trendy in Western countries. Producers claim it bears health-enhancing properties that may come from the tea or metabolites produced by its microbiome. Despite its long history of production, microbial richness and dynamics have not been fully unraveled, especially at an industrial scale. Moreover, the impact of tea type (green or black) on microbial ecology was not studied. Here, we compared microbial communities from industrial-scale black and green tea fermentations, still traditionally carried out by a microbial biofilm, using culture-dependent and metabarcoding approaches. Dominant bacterial species belonged to Acetobacteraceae and to a lesser extent Lactobacteriaceae, while the main identified yeasts corresponded to Dekkera, Hanseniaspora and Zygosaccharomyces during all fermentations. Species richness decreased over the 8-day fermentation. Among acetic acid bacteria, Gluconacetobacter europaeus, Gluconobacter oxydans, G. saccharivorans and Acetobacter peroxydans emerged as dominant species. The main lactic acid bacteria, Oenococcus oeni, was strongly associated with green tea fermentations. Tea type did not influence yeast community, with Dekkera bruxellensis, D. anomala, Zygosaccharomyces bailii and Hanseniaspora valbyensis as most dominant. This study unraveled a distinctive core microbial community which is essential for fermentation control and could lead to Kombucha quality standardization.
Microbial ecology of industrial Kombucha fermentations.
Journal Article
Effect of Sugar and Tea Concentration on the Yield and Quality of Kombucha Tea Drinks with SCOBY Fermentation
Kombucha tea is a fermented beverage made from tea (black or green), sugar, and a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Kombucha has gained popularity as a health-promoting beverage due to several potential benefits, including the presence of probiotics produced during the fermentation process. Probiotics help improve the balance of the gut microbiota, which is essential for healthy digestion. This research aimed to determine the optimal combination of sugar and tea concentrations that supports SCOBY fermentation and produces a high-quality kombucha beverage. This research was conducted at the Agrotechnology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic University of Malang, from February to November 2025. The research design employed a completely randomized design (CRD) with two factors: (I) sugar concentration (G), consisting of 5 levels, and (II) tea concentration, also consisting of 5 levels. There were 25 combinations of factors I and II, each repeated five times, resulting in a total of 125 experimental units. Because it uses destructive observation, 500 observation units are required. The research results of the combination of sugar concentration treatment (125 g/L) and tea (12.5 g/L), which was fermented 10 days after inoculation, indicate that it is ideal for supporting the taste, thickness of nata, weight of nata, and sugar content.
Journal Article