Abstract
Kombucha is a yeast and bacterially fermented tea that is often described as having an acetic, fruity and sour flavour. There is a particular lack of sensory research around the use of Kombucha with additional ingredients such as those from the pepper family, or with hops. The goal of this project was to obtain a sensory profile of Kombucha beverages with a range of different ingredients, particularly of a novel Kombucha made with only Kawakawa (Piper excelsum) leaves. Other samples included hops and black pepper. Instrumental data were collected for all the Kombucha samples, and a sensory focus group of eight semi-trained panellists were set up to create a sensory profile of four products. Commercially available Kombucha, along with reference training samples were used to train the panel. Kawakawa Kombucha was found to be the sourest of the four samples and was described as having the bitterest aftertaste. The instrumental results showed that the Kawakawa Kombucha had the highest titratable acidity (1.55 vs. 1.21–1.42 mL) as well as the highest alcohol percentage (0.40 vs. 0.15–0.30%). The hops sample had the highest pH (3.72 vs. 3.49–3.54), with the lowest titratable acidity (1.21), and, from a basic poll, was the most liked of the samples. Each Kombucha had its own unique set of sensory descriptors with particular emphasis on the Kawakawa product, having unique mouthfeel descriptors as a result of some of the compounds found in Kawakawa. This research has led to a few areas that could be further studied, such as the characteristics of the Piperaceae family under fermentation and the different effects or the foaminess of the Kawakawa Kombucha, which is not fully explained.
Highlights
Consumers are pushing a phenomenal surge for the potentially probiotic beverage known as Kombucha
The Kawakawa leaves used were from PureNature NZ (Auckland, New Zealand) and the black tea was from Bell Tea (Dunedin, New Zealand)
The ◦ Brix results for the four different Kombucha samples, both before and after fermentation, showed fairly similar results, with only one odd result for day zero for the hops sample, which came out at 6.8 ◦ Brix
Summary
Consumers are pushing a phenomenal surge for the potentially probiotic beverage known as Kombucha. Kombucha is a sweetened tea that is fermented using a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (or SCOBY). Examples of SCOBY are a combination of numerous lactic acid bacteria (Acetobacter, Brettanomyces, and Gluconacetobacter) and yeast (Saccharomyces, Zygosaccharomyces). These microorganisms form a biofilm-like structure at the top of the fermenting vessel. Kombucha is said to be well accepted in a sensory way by providing a unique drink that has an element of sweetness, while giving fruitiness and sour and acidic flavours. Ivanišová et al [2] found that their Kombucha had a slightly better sensory preference overall compared to the sweetened black tea control, as well as improvements in taste and flavour intensity. Common flavours that are described by sensory panels seem to include lemon, vinegar, sour, and yeast flavours and aromas [3,4]
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