Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 May 27;10(6):1210.
doi: 10.3390/foods10061210.

Kefir and Its Biological Activities

Nor Farahin Azizi  1 , Muganti Rajah Kumar  1 , Swee Keong Yeap  2 , Janna Ong Abdullah  1 , Melati Khalid  3 , Abdul Rahman Omar  4 , Mohd Azuraidi Osman  1 , Sharifah Alawieyah Syed Mortadza  5 , Noorjahan Banu Alitheen  1   6
Affiliations
Review

Kefir and Its Biological Activities

Nor Farahin Azizi et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Kefir is a fermented beverage with renowned probiotics that coexist in symbiotic association with other microorganisms in kefir grains. This beverage consumption is associated with a wide array of nutraceutical benefits, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, and anti-hypercholesterolemic effects. Moreover, kefir can be adapted into different substrates which allow the production of new functional beverages to provide product diversification. Being safe and inexpensive, there is an immense global interest in kefir's nutritional potential. Due to their promising benefits, kefir and kefir-like products have a great prospect for commercialization. This manuscript reviews the therapeutic aspects of kefir to date, and potential applications of kefir products in the health and food industries, along with the limitations. The literature reviewed here demonstrates that there is a growing demand for kefir as a functional food owing to a number of health-promoting properties.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; gut microbiota; kefir; probiotics; therapeutic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different methods of fermenting non-dairy and dairy kefir.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zamberi N.R., Abu N., Mohamed N.E., Nordin N., Keong Y.S., Beh B.K., Zakaria Z.A.B., Nik Abdul Rahman N.M.A., Alitheen N.B. The Antimetastatic and Antiangiogenesis Effects of Kefir Water on Murine Breast Cancer Cells. Integr. Cancer Ther. 2016;15:NP53–NP66. doi: 10.1177/1534735416642862. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garofalo C., Ferrocino I., Reale A., Sabbatini R., Milanović V., Alkić-Subašić M., Boscaino F., Aquilanti L., Pasquini M., Trombetta M.F., et al. Study of kefir drinks produced by backslopping method using kefir grains from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Microbial dynamics and volatilome profile. Food Res. Int. 2020;137:109369. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109369. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Prado M.R., Blandón L.M., Vandenberghe L.P.S., Rodrigues C., Castro G.R., Thomaz-Soccol V., Soccol C.R. Milk kefir: Composition, microbial cultures, biological activities, and related products. Front. Microbiol. 2015;6:1–10. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01177. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fiorda F.A., de Melo Pereira G.V., Thomaz-Soccol V., Rakshit S.K., Pagnoncelli M.G.B., Vandenberghe L.P.d.S., Soccol C.R. Microbiological, biochemical, and functional aspects of sugary kefir fermentation—A review. Food Microbiol. 2017;66:86–95. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2017.04.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kesenkaş H., Gürsoy O., Özbaş H. Kefir. Fermented Foods in Health and Disease Prevention. Academic Press; Cambridge, MA, USA: 2017. pp. 339–361.

LinkOut - more resources