title: Lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in kefir grains and kefir made from them.
abstract: In an investigation of the changes in the microflora along the pathway: kefir grains (A)-->kefir made from kefir grains (B)-->kefir made from kefir as inoculum (C), the following species of lactic acid bacteria (83-90%) of the microbial count in the grains) were identified: Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactobacillus casei subsp. pseudoplantarum and Lactobacillus brevis. Yeasts (10-17%) identified were Kluyveromyces marxianus var. lactis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida inconspicua and Candida maris. In the microbial population of kefir grains and kefir made from them the homofermentative lactic streptococci (52-65% and 79-86%, respectively) predominated. Within the group of lactobacilli, the homofermentative thermophilic species L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and L. helveticus (70-87% of the isolated bacilli) predominated. Along the pathway A-->B-->C, the streptococcal proportion in the total kefir microflora increased by 26-30% whereas the lactobacilli decreased by 13-23%. K. marxianus var. lactis was permanently present in kefir grains and kefirs, whereas the dominant lactose-negative yeast in the total yeast flora of the kefir grains dramatically decreased in kefir C.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 26 Maritza Boulevard, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simova
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beshkova
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angelov
authors.forename: Ts
authors.initials: Ts
authors.lastname: Hristozova
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frengova
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Spasov
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D015003:Yeasts / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid