Production of High Glucuronic Acid Level in Kombucha Beverage under the Specific Environmental Condition

Kombucha beverage is a fermentation product produced by kombucha mushroom in sweet tea. One of the most important ingredient in this beverage that plays a critical role in detoxification of the body and preventation of cancer, is glucuronic acid. In this research, the effect of environmental conditions such as pH, time,temperature and sugar substrate, in production of this beverage and its glucuronic acid content were studied. Three levels of pH 4, 5 and 6;temperature 25, 30 and 35 oC;time 3, 5 and 7 days and different sugar substrates, corn syrup, molasses and sucrose were applied. Glucuronic acid content was measured spectrophotometrically in the presence of naphthoresorcinol. Optimum conditions for growth of kombucha mushroom and production of high level of glucuronic acid (44.5 mg/l) were reported using MATLAB programming to be 31 oC with sucrose on pH=6. The results show that if kombucha beverage is fermented in controlled condition, it might be regarded as a healthy and nutrient beverage.