The main objective of this research is non-linear modeling of growth curve during kefir grains batch propagation. For this purpose some laboratory experiments were performed in an RC1 reactor provided data for growth curve construction. Afterwards, we fitted several growth models (Logistic, Gompertz and Richards) and compared their biological parameters. Finally, we established the statisticall...

Kefir is a putatively health-promoting dairy beverage that is produced when a kefir grain, consisting of a consortium of microorganisms, is added to milk to initiate a natural fermentation. Here, a detailed analysis was carried out to determine how the microbial population, gene content, and flavor of three kefirs from distinct geographic locations change over the course of 24-h fermentations. ...

Fourteen homofermentative lactic acid bacteria that were isolated from kefir grains and kefir fermented milks were assigned to either Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens or Lactobacillus kefirgranum, based on their characteristic morphotypes, phenotypic features and SDS-PAGE profiles of whole-cell proteins. Further genotypic analyses on representative strains from both taxa demonstrated that L. kefir...

A Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus HP1 strain with high exopolysaccharide activity was selected from among 40 strains of lactic acid bacteria, isolated from kefir grains. By associating the Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus HP1 strain with Streptococcus thermophilus T15, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis C15, Lactobacillus helveticus MP12, and Sacharomyces cerevisiae A13, a ...

In this research, the chemical and microbiological characteristics of white brined cheeses produced with five different starter cultures, namely: traditional kefir grain, commercial kefir, commercial yogurt, traditional yogurt and commercial cheese starter culture, were examined during 60-day ripening period. Results of statistical analysis showed that the type of starter culture had a signific...

The objective of this research was to investigate the effects microbial transglutaminase (m-TGs) on the physicochemical, microbial and sensory properties of kefir produced by using mix cow and soymilk. Kefir batches were prepared using 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 Units m-TGs for per g of milk protein. Adding m-TGs to milk caused an increase in the pH and viscosity and caused a decrease in titratable acid...

BACKGROUND Sheep’s milk has a high content of total solids, which qualifies it as a very good raw material for the production of fermented milk drinks. Currently, there are commercially produced kefirs and yogurts from sheep’s milk in the countries of the Mediterranean region. The growing interest in the consumption of these products is justified not only by their taste merits, but ...

The microbial diversity of water kefir, made from a mixture of water, dried figs, a slice of lemon and sucrose was studied. The microbial consortia residing in the granules of three water kefirs of different origins were analyzed. A collection of 453 bacterial isolates was obtained on different selective/differential media. Bacterial isolates were grouped with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Although probiotics have been extensively studied in irritable bowel syndrome, data on the impact of probiotics on chronic constipation are scarce. We aimed to evaluate the effects of kefir, which is a probiotic fermented milk product, on the symptoms, colonic transit, and bowel satisfaction scores of patients with chronic constipation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty consecutive...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of kefir production using cow-oat milk mixture. Therefore kefir samples with 20, 40 and 60 % of oat milk were produced. The effect of oat-milk ratio on physicochemical, rheological, microbiological and sensory characteristics of the kefir samples was studied during 21 days storage at refrigerated conditions. Increasing oat milk concentration a...