Evaluación del kéfir de agua con tres sustratos edulcorantes y tres saborizantes naturales.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to process water kefir with the use of three types of sweeteners (white, brown and panela sugar) and three types of natural flavorings (lemon, black tea and orange). The physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics were analyzed, and an economic analysis was performed for each treatment. For the research, an experimental study was carried out using 27 samples with an experimental size (TUE) of 1 liter per sample, that is, 3 liters per repetition, corresponding to a total of 27 experimental units of water kefir. This work was carried out in the Laboratory of Bromatology and the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Animal Microbiology of the Animal Science Department at the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo. The analysis of variance was carried out with a bifactorial design where factor A corresponds to the types of sweeteners and factor B corresponds to the types of flavorings. As for the physicochemical parameters, 0.95% ethyl alcohol, 3.87 pH, refractive index 5.67, reducing sugars 6.73, 0.40% lactic acid. The microbiological analysis showed no load of total coliforms, Escherichia coli, fecal coliforms, which showed that the product was innocuous and an average of 4.6x108 CFU/ml of lactic bacteria and 3.7x108 CFU/ml of yeasts were obtained. Concluding that T8 (Panela and black tea) was the most appreciated treatment by the panelists. The best cost/benefit ratio was T9 (panela and orange), which offered the highest profitability at $1.98. The production of water kefir beverages combining panela and orange is recommended as it presents the highest profitability in addition to increasing the diversity of microorganisms in the bacterial flora and thus, raising the body's defenses.