Kefir

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Abstract: Kefir is a complex fermented dairy product created through the symbiotic fermentation of milk by lactic acid bacteria and yeasts contained within an exopolysaccharide and protein complex called a kefir grain. As with other fermented dairy products, kefir has been associated with a range of health benefits such as cholesterol metabolism and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, antimicrobial activity, tumor suppression, increased speed of wound healing, and modulation of the immune system including the alleviation of allergy and asthma. These reports have led to increased interest in kefir as a focus of research and as a potential probiotic-containing product. Here, we review those studies with a particular emphasis on the microbial composition and the health benefits of the product, as well as discussing the further development of kefir as an important probiotic product.

Abstract: In an investigation of the changes in the microflora along the pathway: kefir grains (A)→kefir made from kefir grains (B)→kefir made from kefir as inoculum (C), the following species of lactic acid bacteria (83–90%) of the microbial count in the grains) were identified: Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus casei subsp pseudoplantarum and Lactobacillus brevis Yeasts (10–17%) identified were Kluyveromyces marxianus var lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida inconspicua and Candida maris In the microbial population of kefir grains and kefir made from them the homofermentative lactic streptococci (52–65% and 79–86%, respectively) predominated Within the group of lactobacilli, the homofermentative thermophilic species L delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus and L helveticus (70–87% of the isolated bacilli) predominated Along the pathway A→B→C, the streptococcal proportion in the total kefir microflora increased by 26–30% whereas the lactobacilli decreased by 13–23% K marxianus var lactis was permanently present in kefir grains and kefirs, whereas the dominant lactose-negative yeast in the total yeast flora of the kefir grains dramatically decreased in kefir C Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology (2002) 28, 1–6 DOI: 101038/sj/jim/7000186