TITLE:
Application of Whey Permeate Fermented with Kefir Grains for the Shelf-Life Improvement of Food and Feed
AUTHORS:
Raúl Ricardo Gamba, Candela Moure, Gabriela Diosma, Leda Giannuzzi, Graciela Liliana De Antoni, Ángela María León Peláez
KEYWORDS:
Aspergillus parasiticus, Whey Permeate, Kefir Supernatants, Bread, Poultry Feed
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.6 No.9,
August
9,
2016
ABSTRACT: Fungal contamination by Aspergillus parasiticus and A. flavus causes
negative effects on the production of food cereals. Kefir is an ancient fermented
beverage obtained by the fermentation of different substrates with kefir grains.
An important waste produced by the dairy cheese industry is the whey permeate, which
nowadays is a strong ambient contaminant. The aim of this work was the standardization
of the whey permeate fermenting conditions with kefir grains, the assessment of
the antifungal activity of the cell-free-supernatants (CFS) from these fermentations
and to compare it with that obtained with CFS of milk fermented with kefir grains.
Finally, we studied if the addition of kefir fermented whey permeate to food (bread)
and feed (poultry) could produce shelf life improvement. The optimal condition to
obtain CFS with fungicidal effect was a fermentation with 10% w/v of kefir grains,
at 30°C, for 24 hours until a pH 3.7. We found that CFS from whey permeate caused
fungal inhibition, whereas CFS of kefir grains grown in milk showed lower antifungal
activity. Additionally, the addition of kefir-fermented whey permeates in food (bread)
and feed (poultry) improved their resistance to fungal contamination. This is the
first report about the application of kefir-fermented whey permeate to improve the
shelf life, suggesting its potential use as a biopreservative.