The usage of water kefir in order to develop a beverage which is not based on mılk properties

In this research, the idea of bringing together the benefits that we obtain by taking living probiotic organisms into our bodies which is generally provided by milk based fermented products and also healty properties of fruits with high antioxidant capacity in just one beverage not based on milk, is taken into consideration. Recently it is almost impossible to ignore the huge tendency growing on towards development of functional foods and their relation with human health. Because those products after their consumption cause really good effects on intestinal microflora, beside it is shown that they are able to prevent some certain diseases. Granules of water kefir are mostly consisted by yeasts of Kluyveromyces, Candida and Saccharomyces acompanied by lactic acid forming bacterias like Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc and Streptococcus. All these mentioned microorganisms are covered by a water-soluble matrix. In this research the juices obtained from cranberry, hawthorn, plum, pomegranate and rosehip are used. Those juices intented to prepare the fermented beverage are exposed to heat for 5 minutes at 75 Co and then cooled down to the room temperature. The Fermentation process is conducted by a traditional starter of waterkefir. These Kefir-like products are prepared as 3 parallels, conserved during 29 days at +4 OC. When we have a look at the results we obtained, we deeply believe x that this research could be benefitial in order to be an inspiration for further investigations and offer a new functional food for consumers and also for food industry.