Use of water kefir in the production of shalgam-like beverages

In this study, the aim was to produce shalgam juice using traditional methods with different types (commercial powder, commercial grain and homemade grain) of water kefir. The goal was to enhance the functional properties of turnip juice and shorten the fermentation process during production. According to the obtained data, the total acidity of the produced beverages, expressed as lactic acid, ranged between 6.47 and 12.26 g/L. The lowest value was observed in the control group, while the highest value was determined in the trial with the addition of commercial powdered water kefir. The pH values ranged from 3.79 to 4.30, with the lowest value in the control group and the highest value in the trial with the addition of commercial grain water kefir. The total monomeric anthocyanin content, expressed as cyanidin-3-glucoside, ranged from 170.50 to 295.85 mg/L, while the total phenolic content, expressed as gallic acid, ranged from 836.45 to 2613.00 mg/L. The highest total monomeric anthocyanin content was found in the beverage with the addition of commercial grain water kefir, while the highest total phenolic content was determined in the beverage with the addition of commercial powdered water kefir. The antioxidant activities of turnip-like beverages were determined using two different methods (DPPH and ABTS). In both methods, the lowest and highest antioxidant activity values were observed in the control and homemade grain water kefir trials, respectively. The DPPH values ranged from 30.45 to 75.68 µmol TE/mL, while the ABTS values ranged from 52.46 to 90.51 µmol TE/mL. During fermentation, the lactic acid bacteria count ranged from 3.95 to 7.95 log CFU/mL, the total mesophilic aerobic bacteria count ranged from 5.09 to 8.19 log CFU/mL, the total yeast count ranged from 4.86 to 8.29 log CFU/mL, and the non-Saccharomyces spp. yeast count ranged from 4.05 to 6.11 log CFU/mL. Sensory and purchase intent analysis results showed that the control group turnip juice was the most liked; however, the turnip-like beverages with water kefir additions received scores close to the control group. It was determined that the functional properties of fermented turnip juice increased with the addition of water kefir.