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Project
Leveraging kombucha fermentation: unraveling microbiome and metabolite composition and dynamics (FWOAL1028)
Kombucha is a fermented, non- to low-alcoholic tea beverage that is
produced in a poorly-standardized traditional manner. Although
kombucha is commonly consumed in some countries like the USA
where major industrial producers dominate the market, its production
process is a high-risk, ill-defined, up-scaled version of the household
procedures. To be able to produce kombucha in a more standardized
and quality controlled manner to respond to an urgent societal need
and clear economic potential, several fundamental knowledge gaps
need to be addressed.
We hypothesize that an unprecedented, large-scale analysis of the
kombucha microbiota, coupled to an in-depth genomic and
metabolomic characterization of obtained isolates will allow to
compose kombucha consortia for standardized kombucha
production. To this end we aim (i) to make an inventory of the
microbial diversity and metabolite composition of a large number of
kombucha samples, (ii) to create a collection of kombucha-derived
bacteria and yeasts, (iii) to clarify the underlying mechanisms and
dynamics of metabolite biosynthesis, and (iv) to select consortia of
starter cultures.
This project will perform an unprecedented large-scale analysis of the
cultivable kombucha microbiota. It will be the first to correlate indepth functional genomic with metabolomic data to select isolates for
kombucha production consortia and will generate a valuable resource
of bacterial and yeast isolates for the SME industry
produced in a poorly-standardized traditional manner. Although
kombucha is commonly consumed in some countries like the USA
where major industrial producers dominate the market, its production
process is a high-risk, ill-defined, up-scaled version of the household
procedures. To be able to produce kombucha in a more standardized
and quality controlled manner to respond to an urgent societal need
and clear economic potential, several fundamental knowledge gaps
need to be addressed.
We hypothesize that an unprecedented, large-scale analysis of the
kombucha microbiota, coupled to an in-depth genomic and
metabolomic characterization of obtained isolates will allow to
compose kombucha consortia for standardized kombucha
production. To this end we aim (i) to make an inventory of the
microbial diversity and metabolite composition of a large number of
kombucha samples, (ii) to create a collection of kombucha-derived
bacteria and yeasts, (iii) to clarify the underlying mechanisms and
dynamics of metabolite biosynthesis, and (iv) to select consortia of
starter cultures.
This project will perform an unprecedented large-scale analysis of the
cultivable kombucha microbiota. It will be the first to correlate indepth functional genomic with metabolomic data to select isolates for
kombucha production consortia and will generate a valuable resource
of bacterial and yeast isolates for the SME industry
Date:1 Jan 2022 → Today
Keywords:Kombucha, microbiome, beverage, metabolites, consortia, starter cultures
Disciplines:Food fermentation, Food microbiology