Tradition as a Stepping Stone for a Microbial Defined Water Kefir Fermentation Process: Insights in Cell Growth, Bioflavoring, and Sensory Perception.

A process development from a traditional grain-based fermentation to a defined water kefir fermentation using a co-culture of one lactic acid bacterium and one yeast was elaborated as a prerequisite for an industrially scalable, controllable, and reproducible process. Further, to meet a healthy lifestyle, a low ethanol-containing product was aimed for. Five microbial strains-, , , , and -were used in pairs in order to examine their influence on the fermentation progress and the properties of the resulting water kefir products against grains as a control.