UNCONVENTIONAL SUBSTRATES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF KEFIR DRINKS WITH PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL
molasses, brown, non-dairy kefir, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, lactic acid.
Kefir is a fermented beverage developed by inoculating kefir grains into a given fermentative substrate. Brown sugar is known as the most common substrate for the preparation of water kefir. The present study aimed to evaluate the fermentation of kefir grains in different solutions containing brown, demerara, crystal, coconut and sugarcane molasses sugars. The fermentative substrates were developed considering a proportion of 10% of the respective sugar dissolved in water, with inoculation of 10% of kefir grains, to ferment for a period of 48 hours at room temperature. Analyses of pH, acidity, soluble solids, lactic and acetic acids, counts of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were performed, as well as weighing of grains at 0h, 24h and 48h times. Their counts of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were the highest at the end of fermentation, of 7.46 and 7.49 log CFU/mL, respectively, indicating probiotic potential. On the other hand, crystal sugar resulted in more discrete fermentation, with the lowest count of lactic acid bacteria (6.87 log CFU/mL in 48h time). In general, the results indicate potential applicability of alternative sources of sugars in the development of kefir beverages with different physicochemical and microbiological characteristics.