Microbial community dynamics of fermented kefir beverages changes over time

Kefir is a traditional fermented milk associated with several health benefits, such as immune system modulation, as well as antimicrobial, antitumor and antioxidant activity. The aim of the current study was to investigate the microbial dynamics of kefir production based on high-throughput DNA sequencing. Results of sequence analysis have grouped the reads into 303 and 112 amplicon sequence variants (ASV) for bacteria and fungi, respectively. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria were the prevalent bacterial phyla, whereas Lactococcus was the prevalent bacterial genus. Ascomycota was the main fungal phylum. Data have shown heterogeneity in diversity and abundance distributions between milk kefir samples.

Automated summary

This study investigated the microbial dynamics of kefir production using high-throughput DNA sequencing. The results showed heterogeneity in diversity and abundance distributions between milk kefir samples. The prevalent bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria, with Lactococcus as the prevalent bacterial genus, while Ascomycota was the main fungal phylum.