Production of volatile aroma compounds by kefir starter cultures

Characterization of kefir-like beverages produced from vegetable juices

“…According to the Italian legislation (GURI, 2001), due to their ethanol content above 1.2% v/ v, strawberry, melon, carrot and tomato KLBs produced in this study are alcoholic beverages. The presence of ethanol is important for a kefir product because it confers the typical light alcoholic flavour (Beshkova, Simova, Frengova, Simov, & Dimitrov, 2003) and, together with the CO 2 mainly deriving from yeast fermentation, provides the final product with the desirable exotic notes and yeasty aroma (Guzel-Seydim, Seydim, & Greene, 2000). In this study, estimation of CO 2 production was as reported by several authors for different fermented matrices (Liu & Shen, 2008;Lombardi et al 2004;Varga, Klinke, R eczey, & Thomsen, 2004), through weight loss.…”

Development of new non-dairy beverages from Mediterranean fruit juices fermented with water kefir microorganisms

“…Some species within the genus Lactobacillus have also the ability to produce ethanol, since they have alcohol dehydrogenase activity, an enzyme able to convert acetaldehyde to ethanol (Magalhães et al, 2011a;Magalhães et al, 2011b;Puerari et al, 2012). Beshkova et al (2003) reported that alcohol content should be enough to give kefir a typical light alcoholic flavor. However several studies showed low ethanol levels in kefir beverages using different substrates (Magalhães et al, 2011a;Magalhães et al, 2011b;Zajsek, & Gorsek, 2010).…”

Sensory and physico-chemical properties of commercially available kefir

“…The unique flavour and aroma of traditional kefir result from the metabolic activity of the original natural starter-kefir grains. The selfcarbonated and distinctive flavour of kefir origin from the products of ongoing lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation such as lactic acid, CO 2 , ethanol, diacetyl and other carbonyl flavour-forming compounds (Beshkova et al 2003, Yuksekdag et al 2004. The percentage chemical composition of kefir depends on many factors such as kind of milk, type of grains and technological conditions.…”