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. 2024 Sep 6;13(17):2834.
doi: 10.3390/foods13172834.

The Production of Water Kefir Drink with the Addition of Dried Figs in the Horizontal Rotating Tubular Bioreactor

Mladen Pavlečić  1 , Mario Novak  1 , Antonija Trontel  1 , Nenad Marđetko  1 , Vlatka Petravić Tominac  1 , Ana Dobrinčić  1 , Monika Kralj  1 , Božidar Šantek  1
Affiliations

The Production of Water Kefir Drink with the Addition of Dried Figs in the Horizontal Rotating Tubular Bioreactor

Mladen Pavlečić et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Water kefir is a product obtained through the fermentation of sucrose solution, usually with some kind of dried fruit addition, by a combined culture of micro-organisms which are contained within kefir grains. Its popularity is rising because of the simplicity of its preparation and its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, probiotic, and antibacterial effects. In this research, the water kefir production was studied in 250 mL jars, as well as in a horizontal rotating tubular bioreactor (HRTB). The first part of the research was conducted in smaller-scale (jars), wherein the optimal fruit and fruit portions were determined. These experiments included the addition of dried plums, apricots, raisins, dates, cranberries, papaya, and figs into 150 mL of initial sugar solution. Also, the optimal ratio between dried fruit and sucrose solution (0.2) at the beginning of the bioprocess was determined. The second part of this research was conducted using HRTB. The experiments in the HRTB were carried out by using different operational modes (constant or interval bioreactor rotation). A total of six different bioreactor setups were used, and in all experiments, figs were added at the beginning of the bioprocess (0.2 ratio between dried figs and sucrose solution). On the basis of the obtained results, the interval bioreactor rotation mode proved to be the better HRTB mode for the production of the water kefir, as the yield of the main fermentation products was higher, and their ratios were the most adequate for the quality of water kefir drink. The optimal results were obtained via HRTB setup 3/57 (3 min rotation, 57 min pause within 1 h) and rotation speed of 3 rpm. Furthermore, it is clear that HRTB has great potential for water kefir production due to the fact that HRTB experiments showed shorter fermentation times (at least five times) than water kefir production in jars.

Keywords: dried fruits addition; functional drink; horizontal rotating tubular bioreactor (HRTB); water kefir production.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study or the collection and interpretation of the data. Also, they had no influence on the writing of this paper or in the decision to publish the presented data.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in concentration of sugars and pH (A) sucrose (●; Suc), glucose (●; Glu), fructose (●; Fru), and pH (□) and fermentation products (B) ethanol (▲; EtOH), glycerol (▲; Gly), acetic acid (▲; Acet), and mannitol (▲; Mann) during water kefir production in jars with the addition of 10 g of dried pitted plums.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in concentration of sugars and pH (A) sucrose (●; Suc), glucose (●; Glu), fructose (●; Fru), and pH (□) and fermentation products (B) ethanol (▲; EtOH), glycerol (▲; Gly), lactic acid (△; Lact), acetic acid (▲; Acet), and mannitol (▲; Mann) during water kefir production in jars with the addition of 30 g of dried figs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in concentration of sugars and pH (A) sucrose (●; Suc), glucose (●; Glu), fructose (●; Fru), and pH (□) and fermentation products (B) ethanol (▲; EtOH), glycerol (▲; Gly), lactic acid (△; Lact), acetic acid (▲; Acet), and mannitol (▲; Mann) during water kefir production in the HRTB with constant HRTB rotation mode and the rotation speed of 3 rpm.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes in concentration of sugars and pH (A) sucrose (●; Suc), glucose (●; Glu), fructose (●; Fru), and pH (□) and fermentation products (B) ethanol (▲; EtOH), glycerol (▲; Gly), lactic acid (△; Lact), acetic acid (▲; Acet), and mannitol (▲; Mann) during water kefir production in the HRTB with interval HRTB rotation mode (3 min rotation, 57 min stationary) and rotation speed of 3 rpm.
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