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A functional milk beverage: Kefir

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A functional
milk beverage: Kefir
HARUN KESENKAS, OKTAY YERLKAYA*, ELIF OZER
*Corresponding author
Harun Kesenkas

Ege University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Dairy Technology, 35100, Bornova-zmir, Turkey

KEYWORDS: fermented milks, kefir, probiotic dairy products, human health

ABSTRACT: Recently, beneficial effects of functional dairy products which are supported with many studies attract
consumer interest. At this point kefir; which has a very old history, is a fermented milk product obtained as a result of alcohol
and lactic acid fermentation via using grain or culture. Besides being produced by milk, synthesis of certain vitamins, partial
disintegration of protein and lactose during the production increase the nutritional value of kefir. Many studies particularly
about gastrointestinal diseases and health-related properties of kefir like; ability to control certain types of cancer,
cholesterol-lowering effect and effects on the immune system had carried out and positive results were achieved.

Kefir is a slightly sour, alcoholic and sparkling milk product

produced in many countries with different names like
Kephir, Kiaphur, Kefyr, Kepher and Kype. It is produced
for thousands of years in mountain villages of North
Caucasus and steps from Northeastern Caucasus to
Mongolia and spread from here to other countries. It is
reported that according to the many literatures, the word
of kefir derived from the Turkish word keyf which means
good feeling (1 - 4).
Kefir gained popularity since the second half of 19.
century in the eastern and central European countries
and at the end of the same century it started to be
produced industrially for the first time in the former Soviet
Union. Today, high amounts of kefir are consumed in
many countries and its importance increasing gradually
(3, 5, 6).
The nutritional attributes of this self-carbonated beverage
are due to presence of vital nutrients such as
carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and some
nutraceutical components. Moreover antimicrobial
activity, better gut health, anticarcinogenic activity,
control on serum glucose and cholesterol, control on
lactose intolerance, and better immune system can be
achieved through its regular consumption (4). So, in this
review, it was aimed to update our knowledge about the
functional properties of kefir.

KEFIR GRAINS AND KEFIR MICROFLORA

The difference of kefir from other milk products is the use
of kefir grains to ensure fermentation during production. It
is reported that traditional kefir grains can be obtained in
goat bag, coagulating cow milk with calf or sheep
omasum and following few weeks after coagulation
drying gel-like structure consists of the inner surface of
goat bag (7).
Kefir grains are white or yellowish color, changing
diameters from 1-2 mm to 3-20 mm, indicates structure in
the form of lump, and looks like a little cauliflower. It was
revealed from studies that kefir grains occur from some
polysaccharide and lipid complexes, also from
fragmented cell products by coagulation of casein. Kefir
grain contains 85-90% water and its dry matter contain

57% carbohydrate, 33% protein, 4% fat and 6% ash. Kefir

grains include polysaccharide structure which is called
kefiran. Kefiran, which is mainly produced by
homofermentative Lactobacillus species and yeasts, is a
branched polysaccharide containing equal amounts of
glucose and galactose (1, 3, 8-11).
The kefir grain contains lactococci, leuconostocs,
thermophilic and mesophilic lactobacilli, yeasts (lactosenegative and lactose positive) and acetic acid bacteria.
These microorganisms maintain a symbiotic life in kefir
grain. In this microflora, there are lots of microorganisms
such as Lb. brevis, Lb. kefir, Lb. acidophilus, Lb.
bulgaricus, Lb. casei, Lb. kefiranofaciens, Lb. helveticus,
Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis
subsp. cremoris, Streptococcus thermophilus
Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Leuconostoc cremoris,
Enterococcus faecium, Weissella ssp., Pichia ssp.,
Acetobacter aceti, Kluyveromyces marxianus,
Torulaspora delbrueckii, Candida kefir, Saccharomyces
ssp. and other yeast species (12-16).
It is very difficult to give a specific and standard
composition of the microflora of kefir grain. Although
microorganism species, number of microorganisms and
ratio of them to each other changes according to grains
origin, using and storage conditions, the ratio of living
yeast and lactic acid
bacteria is relatively
stable. The number of
living lactose-negative
yeast is more than
the number of
lactose-positive
yeast species (3, 11).

Dairy Ingredients

INTRODUCTION

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Agro FOOD Industry Hi Tech - vol 24(6) - November/December 2013

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Moreover the distribution of microorganisms in kefir grain

is not the same. For example, while Lb. kefir strains take
part the outer surface of the grain, Lb. kefiranofacies
found in almost every region of the grain and the highest
population is in the center. Similar to this, lactose-positive
yeasts found more on the surface, lactose-negative
yeasts found in the center. Contaminated
microorganisms often isolated from kefir grain are
Geotricum, Pediococcus, Micrococcus, Enterococcus
and coliforms species (3, 17).
Kok-Tas et al. (18) determined to microbial flora of kefir
grains produced in three universities in Turkey. They were
identified the natural inhabitants of the kefir grains as: Lb.
acidophilus, Lb. helveticus, S. thermophilus,
Bifidobacterium bifidum and Kluyveromyces marxianus
kefir. This research attracts attention because it is maybe
the first study where Bifidobacterium bifidum was first
isolated from kefir grains. Teixeira Magalhes et al. (19)
were performed that microbial ecology of Brazilian kefir
beverage and total of 359 microbial isolates were
identified. Lactic acid bacteria (60.5%) were the major
isolated group identified, followed by yeasts (30.6%) and
acetic acid bacteria (8.9%).

TRADITIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL KEFIR PRODUCTION

Also like other fermented milk products, it is primarily
important to have a good quality of raw material in the
production of kefir. Although kefir can be made from
cow, sheep and goat milk, today cow milk with different
fat contents are used for industrial production. Recently
kefir production is carried out by using soy milk, rice milk,
coconut milk, whey or oat milk. During the heat
treatment of milk used for kefir production adequate
pasteurization norms (e.g. 95C, for 10-15 min) are used
to denature whey proteins completely. These denatured
whey proteins which have high water-holding capacity,
prevents the separation of water in the final product and
increase the consistency (8, 20).
The traditional method of producing kefir takes 18-24
hours at 20-25C. In this method, kefir grains are
inoculated 2-10% to milk and separated from milk
following the desired acid formation. Alternatively, two
stage fermentation is used which is known as Russian
model. In this method, second stage takes 12-18 hour
and it is suggested that quality characteristics of this kefir
are better than traditional kefir. In industrial production,
instead of grain, starter culture which is obtained with
inoculation of grain to milk is used (3, 7, 21, 22).
The microbial community composition of kefir can
change by several factors such as the source and
microbial load of the grains, the fermentation process,
and storage conditions (29). The industrial manufacture
of kefir using grains as the starter culture is very difficult
due to the complexity of their microbiological
composition, which varies widely depending on the origin
of the grains and conditions of storage and handling.
Therefore, currently, there are commercial lyophilized
starter cultures that mimic the microbial composition of
the grains (30).
During the incubation microorganisms degrade milk
components at different levels by fermentation. While
lactic acid bacteria convert lactose into lactic acid and
other organic acids, flavoring agents and CO2, produce
some antimicrobial substances which are biologically
important. In the meantime yeasts produce alcohol and
CO2. These microorganisms provide unique flavor of kefir by
secreted proteolytic and limited lipolytic enzymes (1, 7, 8).

THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND THE IMPORTANCE FOR

HUMAN HEALTH
Fermented milks constitute important part of our food.
Different countries or even different parts of the same
country have their own fermented milks.
Nature has provided a certain degree of beneficial
association for humans through the activity of lactic acid
bacteria which are found in these products. In addition
to their preservation, nutritional and therapeutic
importance, they are known for their longevity of human
life (23). One of them kefir have a lot of microorganisms
which show probiotic properties and contain all the
elements of milk like fat, lactose, minerals and vitamins.
Also, changes on lactose and proteins by activity of
microorganisms during fermentation, facilitates digestion
of kefir and so that provides absorption of nutrients easy
by body (10). Homofermentative lactic acid bacteria
convert the available energy source (lactose) almost
completely to lactic acid via pyruvate to produce
energy and to equilibrate the redox balance. The
fermentation action of specific lactic acid bacteria
strains may lead to removal of toxic or antinutritive
factors, such as lactose and galactose, from fermented
milks to prevent lactose intolerance and accumulation
of galactose (23).
The most important products formed during fermentation
are lactic acid (0.8-1%), alcohol (0.01-2%), acetic acid
(0.4 %) and CO 2 (1-4 mg/L). More than 90% of lactic acid
formed in kefir is L (+) lactic acid. L (+) lactic acid is
digested easily by the body, and it has physiological
importance. Hydrolysis of lactose and increases of
microbial beta-galactosidase enzyme activity provides
lactose intolerant people consume kefir easily. On the
other hand kefir is a good source for B group vitamins,
vitamin K and folic acid (3, 10, 24). Composition and
nutrition values of kefir are seen in Table 1.
It was determined that kefir increases secretion of some
organs such as stomach and pancreas, and is helpful for
nervous disorders, anorexia and insomnia. Also, it is
beneficial for high blood pressure, bronchitis and biliary
disorders. Regularly consumption of half liter kefir for a
day has positive effects for liver, gall, and kidney
functions addition to the stabilized effect on the
metabolism (11). Kefir is effective for the functioning of
kidneys, liver and nervous system because of B vitamins
that it contains, and calcium and magnesium play role
for the formation of healthy nervous system. Also
phosphorus is good for carbohydrate, fat, energy
metabolism, while tryptophan which is an essential
amino acid shows relaxing effect on the nervous system
(11, 25).
It was reported that kefir has antimicrobial effects
against other microorganisms due to competition for
nutrients from kefir microorganisms as well as due to
metabolites such as lactic acid, acetic acid, H 2O 2 in
kefir, antibiotics, bacteriocins, free fatty acids, create
antibacterial effects against G (-) bacteria such as E.
coli, Salmonella, Listeria or G (+) bacteria. Also in recent
years, anticancer effect of kefir is determined because
of microorganisms it contains and its antioxidative effect
(11, 15, 25).
High lactic acid bacteria population in kefir able to bind
the cholesterol therefore reduces cholesterol in the
intestine. Woitowski et al. (26) observed that, from the
point of linoleic and -linolenic acids, kefir which is
produced by sheep milk is more beneficial for health
than kefir produced by cow or goat milk. Hydroxy methyl
glutaric and/or orotic acids prevent the activity of

enzymes that plays role in synthesis of cholesterol (4, 27).

Anticarcinogenic mechanisms of fermented dairy
products are, preventing the beginning of cancer,
suspension of the initial tumor by cutting the running
speed of enzymes which cause converting some
compounds to carcinogenic substances. Studies showed
that Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc species
and Lc. lactis ssp. cremoris which isolated from kefir can
bind mutagens. Polysaccharides in kefir grain are more
effective to prevent the development of tumor than the
water-soluble polysaccharides (28).
Anticarcinogenic property of kefir is derived from the
polysaccharides that are produced during fermentation
by microorganisms especially Lactobacillus species (28).
One of the most important chemical changes occurs
during the fermentation of kefir is proteolysis of milk
casein. It is reported that as well as the stimulating effect
of consisted peptidic fractions on the growth of bacteria
in kefir, they can regulate immune system (28, 31).

The microbiological and chemical composition of kefir

indicates that it is a complex milk beverage, due to
production of unique fermentation metabolites by lactic
acid bacteria and yeasts. The popularity of kefir has
increased because of its positive health effects on the
immune system, gastrointestinal system, and cholesterol
metabolism and, encouraging antitumoural,
antibacterial and antifungal results obtained by many
researches. However further clinical studies are needed
to clarify those therapeutic and neutraceutical activities
on human.

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