Effect of medicinal plant type and concentration on physicochemical, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and sensorial properties of kombucha

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of adding various medicinal plants to kombucha medium and to analyze the changes that occur to its physicochemical, antimicrobial, and sensorial properties. In the first part, measurements were made to determine IC 50 value, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, minimum inhibitory concentration, pH, organic acids, and sensorial properties of kombucha that contained cinnamon, cardamom, or Shirazi thyme. Results showed that kombucha samples containing cinnamon exhibited higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, more organic acids, and better sensorial scores. In the second part, properties of kombucha containing 25%–100% concentrations of cinnamon were evaluated. The result showed that by increasing the cinnamon concentration, certain increases were observed in the amounts of organic acids and in the magnitudes of antioxidants and antimicrobial activities. In conclusion, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of kombucha can be increased by adding medicinal plants, especially at higher concentrations.

Evaluation of physicochemical and bioaccessibility properties of goji berry kombucha

“…Ayed and Hamdi () reported the increase of total phenolic content of kombucha beverage produced by cactus pear juice after 6 days of fermentation as 23%. Shahbazi et al () also determined a significant increase of total phenolic content of kombucha samples during fermentation ( p < 0.05). Ayed et al () explained this increase as both enzyme synthesis by the kombucha consortium and acid hydrolysis.…”

“…Recent researches reported that different substrates other than tea were used in kombucha fermentation such as soy whey (Tu, Tang, Azi, Hu, & Dong, ), snake fruit (Zubaidah, Dewantari, Novitasaria, Srianta, & Blanc, ), yarrow (Vitas, Cvetanović, Mašković, Švarc‐Gajić, & Malbaša, ), blackthorn, cherry laurel, red raspberry, black carrot juice concentrate (Ulusoy & Tamer, ), guava leaves (Moreno‐Jiménez et al, ) cinnamon, cardamom, and Shirazi thyme (Shahbazi, Gahruie, Golmakani, Eskandari, & Movahedi, ).…”

Development of fermented date syrup using Kombucha starter culture

“…Both bacteria and yeasts are surrounded by cellulosic network. Typical Kombucha beverage is prepared by fermentation of sweetened black tea decoction with small portion of tea fungus pellicle and/or 10–15% of previously fermented liquid broth (Amarasinghe, Weerakkody, & Waisundara, ; De Filippis, Troise, Vitaglione, & Ercolini, ; Dufresne & Farnworth, ; Shahbazi, Hashemi Gahruie, Golmakani, Eskandari, & Movahedi, ; Sun, Li, & Chen, ). Throughout the fermentation, yeasts hydrolyze sucrose into glucose and fructose.…”

Kombucha fermentation of six medicinal herbs: Chemical profile and biological activity

“…The initial substrates used for kombucha fermentation, as well as different types of kombucha beverages, possess antioxidant activity [1,6]. Shahbazi et al [18] concluded that the use of medicinal plants, such as Shirazi thyme, cardamom and cinnamon, increased the bioactive potential of kombucha.…”