Use of mandarin and persimmon fruits in water kefir fermentation

Abstract

Water kefir is a non‐dairy probiotic beverage. It is obtained by fermentation of water kefir grains with a sugar solution. This study aims to determine the properties of water kefir beverages obtained by fermentation of mandarin and persimmon‐containing water for 42 h. According to microbiological results, both fruits containing water samples provided a high number of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Moreover, after fermentation, pH, Brix, and dry matter content did not significantly differ. On the other hand, fructose, maltose, and acetic acid contents of mandarin water kefir are significantly higher than persimmon water kefir (p < .05). Persimmon water kefir had higher total phenolic contents, twice as much as mandarin water kefir (p < .05). Both water kefirs had good color properties. The organoleptic acceptability of the fruit water kefirs was promising.

Microbial viability and nutritional content of water kefir grains under different storage conditions

“…Water kefir is produced by fermenting a carbohydrate‐containing solution with water kefir grains (WKG) at 21–25°C for 48–96 h (Pendón et al., 2022 ). Various substrates could be used to obtain WK beverages, such as apple, mandarin, persimmon, quince, grape, kiwi, coconut, sugarcane juice, honey, grape molasses, ginger, and onion (Cufaoglu & Erdinc, 2023 ; Güzel‐Seydim et al., 2023 ; Lynch et al., 2021 ; Moretti et al., 2022 ; Pendón et al., 2022 ). In addition to the fermentation environment, various fermentation parameters related to WK production have been studied (Gökırmaklı et al., 2023 ; Laureys et al., 2018 , 2019 , 2021 ; Laureys & De Vuyst, 2014 , 2017 ).…”