Abstract

INNOVATIVE VARIANT OF PINE TEA KOMBUCHA PREPARED FROM PINUS ROXBURGHII NEEDLES: A BOON FOR HEALTH

Nivedita Sharma*

Abstract

In the present study new variant of kombucha has been prepared by using pine tea and Kangra green tea Pine tea was prepared by exploiting needles of Pinusroxburghii. Primary fermentation was carried out in presence of medicinal herb i.e. Banfsha. Kombucha fermentation process took place at 280C for 14 days. It was observed that pH decreased from 5.0 to 3.5 during fermentation period. Titratable acidity after 14th days of fermentation exhibited a rise in acidity (0.02 to 0.16 %). The TSS of Kombucha steadily decreased from 4.85 to 3.10 OBrix. Kombucha showed antagonism against food borne pathogens viz. Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Sensory evaluation of kombucha was scored 8.0 by panelists for its overall acceptability. Kombucha prepared in this study is novel variant as the fermentation process carried out with pine tea Kangra green tea in presence of herb Banfsha, Kainth/ ground apple.

Keywords: Kombucha, Pine Tea, Sensory, Banafsha, Green Tea.