L2M NSERC - Kombucha fermentation steps and resources to generate reliable low-ethanol kombucha drinks

康普茶是一种受欢迎的天然发酵饮料。红茶菌市场很大，并且正在积极增长，对自制和商业选择都有极大的兴趣。它受到全世界各种消费者的赞赏，因为它是起泡的，含有益生菌微生物，并且被认为是不含酒精的。由于这些益生菌微生物，康普茶被赋予了各种有益健康的作用。其中包括酵母和细菌，它们共同作用，在饮料中产生风味和营养成分。然而，商业化生产的红茶菌可能含有超过1%的乙醇，有些甚至高达5%。对于那些因医疗或其他原因不能消费乙醇的人来说，这将其置于不可接受的风险类别中。这可能包括孕妇、宗教团体或儿童。更大的风险是许多人不知道红茶菌中潜在的乙醇含量。康普茶不经常或可靠地测试乙醇浓度。在程序和批次开发方面存在很大差异，以确保消费者的酒精含量低。我们的工作认识到这种明确的需要低乙醇和乙醇调节红茶菌材料和制造。 酒精发酵由两个因素引起：1）用于发酵的特定酵母/细菌; 2）发酵过程。我们的工作简化了方法，并提供了可靠地产生低乙醇康普茶的可发酵微生物。这一I2 I市场评估将有助于确定我们的初始产品，以及提供的决定。我们正在定义和产生裂变酵母菌株，具有低酸耐发酵，这将导致低乙醇饮料。我们还在开发通过合成生物学和微生物方法促进更好的通气和酒精转化为碳酸的方法。

Kombucha is a popular drink that is naturally fermented. The kombucha market is large and actively growing, with tremendous interest in both homemade and commercial options. It is appreciated by a variety of consumers worldwide because it is fizzy, contains probiotic microorganisms, and is considered to be non-alcoholic. Kombucha has been ascribed with a variety of beneficial health effects because of these probiotic microorganisms. These include yeast and bacteria, which work together to develop flavours and nutrients within the drink.However, commercially manufactured kombucha may contain over 1% ethanol, with some ranging as high as 5%. This places it in an unacceptable risk category for those who cannot consume ethanol for medical or other reasons. This may include pregnant women, religious groups, or children. The greater risk is that many are unaware of the potential ethanol content in kombucha. Kombucha is not tested for ethanol concentration frequently or reliably. There is high variation in the procedures and batch development to assure consumers of low-alcohol levels. Our work recognizes this clear need for low-ethanol and ethanol-regulated kombucha materials and manufacturing. Alcoholic fermentation is caused by two factors: 1) the specific yeast/bacteria used to ferment; 2) the fermentation process. Our work standardizes the methods, and provides fermentable microbes that reliably generate low-ethanol kombucha. This I2I market assessment will help to determine our initial product, as well as the decision of offering. We are defining and generating fission yeast strains that have low-acid tolerance for fermentation, which will lead to low-ethanol drink. We are also developing methods that promote better aeration and alcohol conversion to carbonic acid through synthetic biology and microbial methods.