Comparison of the products of Kombucha fermentation on sucrose and molasses

Fermentation of 1.5 g/L of Indian black tea, sweetened either with 70 g/L of sucrose or an adequate quantity of three kinds of molasses, was conducted by domestic Kombucha (Acetobacter strains in symbiosis with Saccharomycodes ludwigii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces bisporus, Torulopsis sp. and Zygosaccharomyces sp.). Inoculation was performed with 10% of fermentation broth from the previous process. The fermentation in cylindrical vessels containing 2 L of liquid phase, was carried out at 22 +/- degrees C for 14 days, with periodical sampling to measure pH, content of acids (total, acetic and L-lactic), content of remaining sucrose and the yield of biomass at the end of fermentation. Significance of the differences of the results obtained in the fermentations on different substrates was analyzed by applying Duncan's multiple range test. The molasses that yielded the beverage richest in L-lactic acid was suggested for Kombucha fermentation. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.