Characteristics of Kombucha fermentation on medicinal herbs from Lamiaceae family

Authors:
Aleksandra S. Velianski, Dragoljub D. Cvetkovi, Sinia L. Markov

Abstract:
Kombucha is a traditional beverage obtained by fermenting sweetened tea with tea fungus. Because of many purine derivatives, sweetened black or green tea has been almost the only recommended medium for preparing Kombucha. The aim of this paper was testing the possibility of obtaining Kombucha from medicinal herbs belonging to the Lamiaceae family: lemon balm, thyme, peppermint, and sage. During fermentation, the changes in chemical and microbiological parameters were determined, as well as the main metabolites in Kombucha beverages. Both in small and traditional bioreactors, the most effective herb was lemon balm, then peppermint and thyme. Because Kombucha beverage with optimal consuming acidity was obtained in a shorter time compared with traditional medium, lemon balm and peppermint tea could be an alternative medium for Kombucha fermentation, while sweetened sage tea is not adequate medium because the process is prolonged for four days. Yeasts number was from 6.3 to 7.3 log CFU units and acetic acid bacteria from 5 to 7 log CFU. Acetic acid is a dominant organic acid in all beverages which content was from 40% to 81% of titratable acidity, and the ethanol content was less than 1%.

Keywords: kombucha, lamiaceae herbs, fermentation parameters



Country: Romania

Citation: Romanian Biotechnological Letters, 18(1), 8035.

Study Mailing Address:
Faculty of Technology, University of Novi Sad, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
1Corresponding author; Phone: +381214853730, Fax: +38121450413,


Date Updated: March 3, 2020