Abstract
Kombucha is a fermented tea made from a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) with a long history of use as a health tonic. It is likely that most health benefits come from the tea and fermentation metabolites from specific microbial communities. Despite its growing importance as a functional health drink, the microbial ecosystem present in kombucha has not been fully documented. To characterize the microbial composition and biochemical properties of ‘The Good Brew’ original base kombucha, we used metagenomics amplicon (16S rRNA and ITS) sequencing to identify the microbial communities at the taxonomic level. We identified 34 genera with 200 microbial species yet described in kombucha. The dominance of organic acid producing microorganisms Acetobacter, Komagataeibacter and Starmerella are healthy for the human gut and their glucose metabolising activities have a putative role in preventing conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Kombucha contains high protein (3.31 µg/mL), high phenolic content (290.4 mg/100 mL) and low sugars (glucose: 1.87 g/L; sucrose 1.11 g/L; fructose: 0.05 g/L) as compared to green tea. The broad microbial diversity with proven health benefits for the human gut suggests kombucha is a powerful probiotic. These findings are important to improve the commercial value of kombucha and uncover the immense prospects for health benefits.
Highlights
Kombucha has a long history throughout Asia and Europe as a fermented, naturally effervescent, drink that is reported to have multiple health enhancing effects
Kombucha is fermented in the presence of indigenous microorganisms in aerobic conditions and the resulting product is rich in organic acids and CO2 [6,7]
The process of kombucha fermentation is performed by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast with the yeast anaerobically metabolising sucrose to produce simple sugars, alcohol and bacteria aerobically metabolising these into organic acids and carbon dioxide [8]
Summary
Kombucha has a long history throughout Asia and Europe as a fermented, naturally effervescent, drink that is reported to have multiple health enhancing effects. More recently in vitro and in vivo evidence suggest kombucha has health benefits that include, anti-microbial, antioxidant, detoxification, anti-tumour and immune-enhancing effects, along with enhancing gastrointestinal, hepatic cardiac and neurological function [1,2,3,4]. Kombucha is fermented in the presence of indigenous microorganisms in aerobic conditions and the resulting product is rich in organic acids (acetic, lactic acid, gluconic acid and glucuronic acids) and CO2 [6,7]. The process of kombucha fermentation is performed by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast with the yeast anaerobically metabolising sucrose to produce simple sugars, alcohol and bacteria aerobically metabolising these into organic acids and carbon dioxide [8]. Two important bacterial species include Acetobacter, which produces acetic acid and Gluconobacter, which produces gluconic acid
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