Isolation, molecular and phylogenetic identification of microorganisms from Kombucha solution and evaluation of their viability using flow cytometery

Abstract

Kombucha can be produced by coculture of a consortium of bacteria and fungi in a sweetened black tea. Determining the type of microbial population as well as their survival is important because they lead to beneficial and sensory properties of the product. In this study, microorganisms were isolated from kombucha and identified using culture and molecular methods and vacuum dried. Also total phenol content, and antioxidant properties of beverage were characterized. Microorganism viability and sensory evaluation was conducted by flow cytometery and a 5-point hedonic test before and after drying. 8-isolated species were recorded in NCBI. Lactobacillus and Kumagataeibacter and Weissella spp. were the bacterial species, while Starmella bacillaris and Hanseniaspora uvarum were the 2-yeast species identified in kombucha beverage. Microbial count increased from 3.59% on the start day to 96.6% on day 14. The results of sensory evaluation show that, in general, the produced kombucha drink was accepted by the evaluators. The highest score for overall acceptance on day 14 was equal to 4.6. Starmella bacillaris and Hanseniaspora uvarum were first isolated from kombucha with enhanced antioxidant properties. These strains, together with yeast are recommended for use in beverage fermentation processes to production of bioactive compounds.

Combinations of traditional kombucha tea with medicinal plant extracts for enhancement of beneficial substances and activation of apoptosis signaling pathways in colorectal cancer cells

“…Fermentation of kombucha tea involves metabolic activities between yeasts and acetic acid bacteria that utilize substrates in different ways (Teoh et al, 2004;Chakravorty et al, 2016;Jafari et al, 2021). The metabolic relationship of these microorganisms during fermentation produces beneficial organic acids and other substances such as acetic, gluconic acid, glucuronic acid, citric acid, lactic acid, malic acid, succinic acid, saccharic acid, pyruvic acid, sugars, vitamins, and amino acids (Jayabalan et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2021).…”

Metagenomic analysis reveals microbial community and functional capacity in Kombucha

“…The sequences comprising the total reads corresponded to 7 phyla, 39 genera, and 77 species in Kombucha. The overall microbial diversity was higher than the findings of previous studies (Jafari et al, 2022;Torán-Pereg et al, 2021). The results indicated that the metagenomic approach may generate a more complete microbiota profile with enhanced taxonomic resolution and precision in analyzing microbial community in foods when compared with culture-dependent methods (Zhang et al, 2022).…”

Produção de kombucha a partir de diferentes inóculos brasileiros

“…A composição da microbiota é fundamental para a qualidade da kombucha; sendo assim, a quantificação dos grupos microbianos majoritários é um parâmetro importante a ser avaliado (JAFARI et al, 2021). Colônias de leveduras, BAL e BAA crescidas em ágar após execução da técnica de drop plate podem ser observadas na Figura 6.…”