Yu-Chieh Chou, Hui-Wen Lin, Chung-Yi Wang, Chen-Che Hsieh, Shella Permatasari Santoso, Shin-Ping Lin, Kuan-Chen Cheng
Kombucha, a functional beverage rich in glucuronic acid, is fermented in the presence of acetic acid bacteria and yeast as the primary microorganisms. Glucuronic acid is recognized for its various physiological benefits, such as detoxification, antioxidation, and anti-inflammation. To optimize the glucuronic acid content in kombucha, various strain combinations by selecting fermented sources were accomplished. According to the experimental results, kombucha produced through co-fermentation with Pichia anomala and Komagataeibacter hansenii, with glucose-added black tea as the carbon source, exhibited the highest glucuronic acid production. A response surface methodology found that under optimized conditions of a 12.27% (w/v) carbon source concentration, a 10.07% (w/v) substrate concentration, and a 28.4 °C temperature, the highest glucuronic acid production reached 80.16 g/L, which represented a 2.39-fold increase compared to the original kombucha. Furthermore, the total polyphenol content increased by 3.87-fold, while DPPH and ABTS free radical–scavenging capacities increased by 1.86- and 2.22-fold, respectively. To sum up, these observations reveal the potential for commercial production of glucuronic acid–enriched kombucha and contribute to the development of functional food products related to kombucha in the future. © 2024 by the authors.
Ph.D. Program in Drug Discovery and Development Industry, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan; Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, 40201, Taiwan; Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan; Department of Seafood Science, College of Hydrosphere, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering, Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University, Kalijudan 37, East Java, Surabaya, 60114, Indonesia; Collaborative Research Center for Zero Waste and Sustainability, Jl. Kalijudan 37, East Java, Surabaya, 60114, Indonesia; School of Food Safety, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan; TMU Research Center of Biomedical Device, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan; TMU Research Center for Digestive Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan; Institute of Biotechnology, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan; Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, 91 Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, China; Department of Optometry, Asia University, 500 Lioufeng Rd., Taichung, Wufeng, 41354, Japan