Summary
The tea fungus (commonly designed as “kombucha”) is a symbiotic culture of at least three microorganisms: the acetic acid bacteria Acetobacter xylinum and two yeasts Zygosaccharomyces rouxii and Candida sp. in sugared tea (Hesseltine, 1965; Anonymous, 1983). These microorganisms were cultured in their traditional medium and several metabolites were identified and quantified : ethanol, lactic, acetic, gluconic and glucuronic acids. The antibacterial product known as usnic acid was also searched.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abadie, M. (1961) Association de Candida mycoderma Reess Lodder et d'Acetobacter xylinum Brown dans la fermentation acétique des infusions de thé. Ann. Sc. Nat. Bot., 12, 765–780.
Anonymous. 1983. Tea fungus. In Handbook of indigenous fermented food, K.H. Steinkraus ed. pp. 421. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York.
Chambionnat, M. (1952) Contribution à l'étude du champignon japonais. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Maroc. 33, 3–8.
Doledo, A.L. and Maniquis, P.L. 1967. Preparation and storage qualities of fortified nata de coco. The Philippines J. Science. 96, 4, 363–376.
Fontana, J.D., Franco, V.C., De Souza, S.J., Lyra, I.N. and De Souza, A.M. 1991. Nature of plant stimulators in the production of Acetobacter xylinum (“tea fungus”) biofilm used in skin therapy. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 28, 341–351.
Frank, G. 1990. Kombucha, la boisson au champignon de longue vie, W. Ennsthaler ed. Steyr, Austria.
Hauser, S.P. 1990. Dr. Sklenar's kombucha mushroom infusion-a biological cancer therapy. Schweiz Rundsch. Med. Prax. 79, 243–246.
Hesseltine, C.W. 1965. A millenium of fungi, food, and fermentation. Mycologia. 57, 2, 149–197.
Kozaki, M., Koizumi, A. and Kotahara, K. 1972. Microrganisms of zoogloeal mats formed in tea decoction. J. Food Hyg. Society (Japan). 13, 1, 89–97.
Lapuz, M.M., Galardo, E.G. and Palo, M.A. 1967. The nata organism -cultural requirements, characterics and identity. The Philippines J. Science. 96, 2, 91–109.
Reiss, J. 1989. Influence of different sugars on the metabolism of the tea. Z. Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 198, 258–261.
Stadelman, E. 1961. Der Teepilz und seine antibiotische Wirkung. Zentralbl. Bakt. Parasit. Inf. Hyg. 180, 5, 401–435.
Steiger, K.E. and Steinegger, E. 1957. On the tea fungus. Pharmaceutica Acta Helvetiae. 32, 4, 88–93.
Zottner, G. (1952) Note de bactériologie à propos du champignon japonais. Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Maroc. 33, 9–11.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Blanc, P.J. Characterization of the tea fungus metabolites. Biotechnol Lett 18, 139–142 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128667
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00128667