<i>Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus</i> GG Survival and Quality Parameters in Kefir Produced from Kefir Grains and Natural Kefir Starter Culture

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the effect of starter cultures (kefir grains and natural kefir starter culture without grains) on Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) survival and on the quality characteristics of kefir. To this end, the viability of probiotic L. rhamnosus GG strain and the rheological properties and quality parameters of kefir beverages were tested during storage over 21 days at 4 °C. The final LGG counts were 7.71 and 7.55 log cfu/mL in natural kefir starter culture and kefir grain, respectively. When prepared with probiotic bacteria, the syneresis values of kefir prepared using natural kefir starter culture was significantly lower (p p > 0.05). Moreover, all samples showed shear-thinning behavior. The flavor scores for kefir prepared using natural kefir starter culture were significantly higher than for the other samples (p p > 0.05). Overall, the results indicate that natural kefir starter culture could be a potential probiotic carrier.

Keywords

• probiotic
• kefir
• natural kefir starter culture
• kefir grain
• viscosity