Production of nondairy fermented products with chestnut puree as substrate and milk kefir grains or two lactic acid bacteria

This work aimed to study the production, for the first time, of three fermented products of chestnut puree (CP) with milk kefir grains, a higher nisin-producing (Lactococcus (L.) lactis CECT 539) and a higher lactic acid-producing (Lactobacillus (Lb.) casei CECT 4043) lactic acid bacteria (LAB). After studying the CP rheology, the ability of the two LAB to assimilate the carbon sources (starch, sucrose, glucose, and fructose) present in the CP was assayed. The two LAB grew well on glucose, fructose, and sucrose, but they did not use starch. Fermentation of CP with the two LAB and kefir grains allowed us to obtain three fermented products that contained no alcohol and low levels of sugars, lactic, and acetic acids, as well as viable cell counts. After 24 h of fermentation, bacterial counts increased by 2.12 log cycles for Lb. casei and 2.44 log cycles for L. lactis. Although the final counts for both LAB were very similar (p > 0.05), L. lactis grew faster than Lb. casei and produced a higher concentration of lactic acid. The total microbial counts for kefir increased by 1.16 log cycles, after 28 h of incubation, indicating that the microorganisms of the kefir grains adapted well to the composition of the CP. As no ethanol was detected, these results suggest the possibility of producing healthy, nonalcoholic, and low-calorie CPs.