• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.538-542
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate the toxicity of exopolysaccharides (EPS) from kefir toward MA104 cells and evaluate the inhibitory effects of kefir EPS on rotavirus infection. The results obtained are summarized as follows: Lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus fermentum, L. acidophilus, L. brevis) and yeasts (Candida kefyr, Cryptococcus albidus, Pichia ohmeri) were isolated and identified from kefir grain and culture. At 1% EPS, the inhibitory effects of EPS on the infection of MA-104 cells using the MTT assay were $72.52{\pm}6.48%$ for human rotavirus (KU), $36.06{\pm}7.63%$ for bovine rotavirus (NCDV), and $81.66{\pm}1.11%$ for porcine rotavirus (OSU). At 1/128% EPS, the effects were $24.98{\pm}4.58%$ for human rotavirus (KU), $4.71{\pm}6.16%$ for bovine rotavirus (NCDV), and $4.05{\pm}14.90%$ forporcine rotavirus (OSU). EPS isolated from kefir have inhibitory effects on rotaviruses of various serotypes and rotaviruses from different animals.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.541-550
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• 2020

The use of yeast assist kefir fermentation, but also can cause food spoilage if uncontrolled. Hence, in this study, the microbial composition of an existing commercial kefir starter was modified to produce a functional starter, where Lactobacillus acidophilus KCNU and Lactobacillus brevis Bmb6 were used to replace yeast in the original starter to produce non-yeast kefir-like fermented milk. The functional starter containing L. acidophilus KCNU and L. brevis Bmb6 demonstrated excellent stability with 10¹⁰ CFU/g of total viable cells throughout the 12 weeks low-temperature storage. The newly developed functional starter also displayed a similar fermentation efficacy as the yeast-containing control starter, by completing the milk fermentation within 12 h, with a comparable total number of viable cells (10⁸ CFU/mL) in the final products, as in control. Sensory evaluation revealed that the functional starter-fermented milk highly resembled the flavor of the control kefir, with enhanced sourness. Furthermore, oral administration of functional starter-fermented milk significantly improved the disease activity index score by preventing drastic weight-loss and further deterioration of disease symptoms in DSS-induced mice. Altogether, L. acidophilus KCNU and L. brevis Bmb6 have successfully replaced yeast in a commercial starter pack to produce a kefir-like fermented milk beverage with additional health benefits. The outcome of this study provides an insight that the specific role of yeast in the fermentation process could be replaced with suitable probiotic candidates.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.357-364
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• 2005

To search probiotic microorganisms, we isolated Lactobacillus sp. from kefir, The Lactobacillus sp. strain showed $99.5\%$ of identity to species Lactobacillus rhamnosus by API kit. Lactobacillus rhamnosus showed high resistances to acidic environment, which grew well even at pH 2.0 and $1.0\%$ bile salt Enzyme activity of Lactobacillus rhamnosus was higher in amylase ($0.673\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$) than that in xylanase ($0.288\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$), cellulase($0.117\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$) and phytase($0.269\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$). Especially, the Lactobacillus rhamnosus showed high heat stability which remained $1{\times}10^6\;CFU/ml$ at $60^{\circ}C$. The maximum numbers of Lactobacillus rhamnosus on growth owe was reached at 24 h fermentation and pH was decreased to 4.6. The resistances of Lactobacillus rhamnosus to acidic pH and bile salt were better than that of Lactobacillus acidophilus used as control. When Lactobacillus rhamnosus was cultured with E. coli in MRS broth, E. coli was disappeared after 18 h. These result suggest that the isolated Lactobacillus rhamnosus has a useful probiotics properties.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.262-268
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• 2003

Kefir is a traditional fermented milk in Caucasusian area and is made mainly of milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria and yeasts. Six typical kefir grains were selected from ten kefir grains collected from different locals in Korea. Kefir grains were gelatinous in texture and had various shapes of villi, grapes, leaves, hulled millets, and towels. To investigate predominant microflora of kefir grains, SPC, MRS, M17, Rogosa, and APT agar media were used for viable cell count MRS, SPC, and Rogosa media were most acceptable for bacterial cell counts of the selected kefir grains. From one or two of the SPC agar plates which contained around 25∼50 colonies, all grown colonies were isolated and identified. Most predominant bacteria was identified as Lactobacillus fermentum by API 50 CHL kit. The proportions of Lb. fermentum and Lb. brevis among the total identified bacteria were around 41~88% and M4%, respectively. To select the best preservation method for kefir grains, refrigeration, freezing, and freeze drying were compared. Freeze drying was found most suitable for the preservation of kefir grains, based upon their acid-producing activities and production of off-flavors.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.726-732
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• 2020

Indonesian kefir grains are potential sources of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that may act as probiotics with specific functional properties. In this study we explored the potential of the probiotic and cholesterol-lowering effect of LAB isolated from Indonesian kefir grains obtained from Bogor, Bandung, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. The results revealed that 10 isolates showed considerable survivability at low pH and bile salt with total cell reduction of ~3 log colony-forming units per milliliter after exposure to pH 2.5 and 0.5% (w/v) bile salt for 1 and 3 h, respectively. All strains exhibited strong antimicrobial activities against pathogenic bacteria and were sensitive to a wide spectrum of antibiotics but exhibited weak bile salt hydrolase activity. Identification based on 16S RNA suggested that nine isolates were Lactobacillus kefiri and one was Lactobacillus rhamnosus. The ability of the isolates to reduce cholesterol from the media varied, ranging from 22.08% to 68.75% with the highest reduction shown by L. kefiri JK17. The ability to remove cholesterol from the media decreased greatly in resting and dead cells, ranging from 14.58% to 22.08% in resting cells and from 7.89% to 18.17% in dead cells. It can be concluded that Indonesian kefir grains contain LAB potentially acting as probiotics capable of reducing cholesterol. The cholesterol-lowering effect especially occurs when the cells are metabolically active.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.10
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• pp.1533-1538
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to select an effective microbial strain to enhance the sensory qualities and functionalities of fermented ginseng soymilk. For this purpose, soybean were ground with water extracts of ginseng and fermented with five Lactobacillus strains. All strains grew well in ginseng soymilk, and viable cell counts reached greater than 8 log CFU/mL after 18 h of fermentation. The contents of total ginsenosides were higher in soymilk fermented with L. casei ATCC 393 than those in the other strains. The sensory qualities of the fermented soymilk were observed to increase with the intensity of sourness and showed the best sensory acceptability of soymilk fermented with L. kefir ATCC 35411. Moreover, the antioxidant activities, superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities were significantly enhanced by 2~4 and 4~5 times, respectively, compared to the non-fermented soymilk. In particular, the antioxidant activities of the fermented soymilk by L. kefir ATCC 35411 were the highest among the samples. This result suggests that soymilk fermented by L. kefir ATCC 35411 allowed obtaining a soymilk with enhanced sensory quality and antioxidant activity was able to contribute to the health benefit.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.178-185
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• 2018

Kefir, which originates in the Caucasian mountains, is a cultured milk beverage produced by a combination of acidic and alcoholic fermentation. Kefir products are commonly used as food vehicles to deliver health-promoting materials including kefran and lactic acid bacteria to consumers. The aim of this study was to develop a freeze-dried starter culture without yeast and assess the suitability of kefir-like dairy products for the growth of lactic acid bacteria and the acidification of milk. Pasteurized whole milk (SNF 8.5%) stored at $25^{\circ}C$ was aseptically inoculated with starter cultures (0.002% w/v); it was kept at $25^{\circ}C$ until the pH attained a value of 4.6. Ten grams of the kefir-like product sample was diluted with 90 mL of 0.15% peptone water diluent in a milk dilution bottle, followed by uniform mixing for 1 min. Viable cells of Lactobacillus species were enumerated on modified-MRS agar (pH 5.2), with incubation at $37^{\circ}C$ for 48 h. Viable cells of Lactococcus species were enumerated on M17-lactose agar, with incubation at $32^{\circ}C$ for 48 h. The pH attained a value of 4.6 after fermentation for 9 h 30 min (Starter 1), 9 h 45 min (Starter 2), and 12 h (Starter 3). The viable cell count of Lactobacillus sp. and Lactococcus sp. was initially $10^5{\sim}10^6CFU/g$; it increased significantly to $10^9CFU/g$ after 12 h of incubation. During the storage of the kefir-like products at $4^{\circ}C$ for 1 4 days, the total viable cell numbers were unchanged, but the pH decreased slightly. The consistency of the kefir products increased gradually during the storage. The organoleptic properties of the kefir products fermented using the new starter culture are more desirable than those of commercial kefir. These results suggest that the newly developed starter culture without yeast could be suitable for kefir fermentation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.805-809
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• 1999

The growth of Lactobacillus casei in milk was enhanced by adding yams. Addition of 1% yam(raw or dry) promoted the cell growth and acid production in fermented milk. The milk containing 1% yams formed the complete curd by lactic acid fermentation at 37oC for 19hr while the milk without yams showed the incomplete curd formation. The crude mucilage extracted from a raw yam also enhanced the cell growth as well as the acid production. Addition of mucilage(0.08%) showed the similar effects with adding heat treated yam(1%). The milk fermented by adding various yams showed the high scores for sensory evaluation comparing with the milk fermented without yams. The fermenting ability of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus kefir and Leuconostoc mesenteroides was evaluated by adding 1% of a dry yam in milk. A dry yam also enhanced the cell growth of L. acidophilus resulting in the high acid production. The viable cell counts of L. casei, L. acidophilus and Leuc. mesenteroides except L. kefir were increased by adding 1% of a dry yam.

• 한국유가공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.8-21
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• 1998

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2017

Linum usitatissimum L. (flaxseed) is emerging as an important functional food ingredient because of its rich contents, namely, ${\alpha}$-linolenic acid (ALA, omega-3 fatty acid), lignans, and fiber, which are potentially beneficial for human health. Furthermore, flax or flaxseed oil has also been incorporated as a functional food ingredient into various foods such as milk, dairy products, and meat products. Flaxseed is known to possess antimicrobial activity in vitro and in vivo, but its growth-stimulating effect on lactic acid bacteria is not clear. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine whether crude flaxseed extract stimulated the growth kefir-isolated lactic acid bacteria in vitro. The result of this study showed that Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens DN1, Lactobacillus brevis KCTC3102, Lactobacillus bulgaricus KCTC3635, and Lactobacillus plantarum KCTC3105 treated with $100{\mu}L$ of crude flaxseed extract showed significantly higher growth than the control treated with $100{\mu}L$ of water (p<0.05). Based on the results of this study, crude flaxseed extract could be used as a growth stimulator for lactic acid bacteria in various food applications, including production of milk and dairy products.