Microbial Composition of SCOBY Starter Cultures

Links

• Microbial Composition of SCOBY Starter Cultures Used by Commercial Kombucha Brewers in North America

  This study focuses on the microbial community structure of kombucha, a fermented beverage, using high-throughput sequencing. The researchers analyzed a large number of kombucha samples from North America to identify the prevalent microbial taxa in the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). They found that the most abundant taxa were the yeast genus Brettanomyces and the bacterial genus Komagataeibacter. The study also identified different SCOBY archetypes based on microbial community structures. The results provide insights into the diversity and assembly of microbial communities in kombucha fermentation.

• https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/foods/foods-11-03107/article_deploy/foods-11-03107.pdf?version=1665043964

  The study focuses on optimizing the fermentation process of a medium containing black tea infusion, bovine colostrum, and sugar using a combination of SCOBY-based membranes and milk kefir grains as starter cultures. The researchers used experimental design and statistical analysis to determine the optimal conditions. The fermented product obtained under these conditions showed antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The study highlights the potential of combining these two starter cultures to obtain fermented products with enhanced functional properties.