Bothers me. Difference in lactic acid and acetic acid based KT's.

[Guest guest]

Dear Ones,

No one has cleared up whether we are getting the same KT from the health foods

stores as we are making at home.

If one is acetic acid based and one is lactic acid based, who has the real

Kombucha Tea as handed down for generations?

I wish someone would test them and give us a comp[lete breakdown of the

contents.

If it costs much, maybe we could all chip in.

Blessings on you all. LOve. MArge.

[Guest guest]

This is an excerpt from the book " Kombucha - Healthy beverage and natural

Remedy from the Far East " by Guenther W. . Where you buy this book

See http://www.kombu.de/where.htm.

The " genuine " Kombucha culture

" Have I got the real Kombucha culture? Where do I get the right culture

From? " These are questions that bother a lot of people, and are forever

Cropping up.

To anticipate the answer right away: there is no one clear answer to this

Question. Reiss (1987) reduces it to the common denominator: " The precise

Combination of the component elements of individual Kombucha preparations

Can vary widely, so that it's not so much a case of " the " Kombucha

Culture, but of a great number of them. "

This view is confirmed by all the other authors. Lindner (1913 and 1917/

18) had already noticed that the composition of the individual cultures

Could be very different, particularly with regard to the yeasts.

And Valentin (1930), who experimented with a variety of different strains,

Says that the varying results of his researches taught him that there is a

Great variety in the individual culture colonies. He describes his results

In the following terms:

" At any rate it must be emphasized that the chemical processes in Kombucha

Cultures are dependent on the bacteria available. But it's not just from

The fermented products that one can tell commercially obtainable Kombucha

Cultures contain a variety of quite different strains of yeast and

Bacteria; even the symbiotic relationship of the individual varieties to

Each other varies greatly. "

Valentin (1928) even recommends chemists to raise a varieties of cultures

In order to be able to give their customers the appropriate culture to

Match the desired taste.

The Russian research scientist ova confirms in a thesis published in

1954 ( " Morphology of the tea fungus " ) that the actual composition of the

Symbiont varies according to geographical and climatic conditions, and

Depends on whatever types of wild yeasts and bacteria exist locally.

The variety of combinations forming the Kombucha culture can possibly be

Caused by differing growth of the individual constituents. Depending on

Which conditions of growth best suit which constituents of the culture, so

One sort develops better than another.

Because I considered the question of the " genuine " Kombucha culture to be

Very important, I consulted Professor Ulf Stahl of the Technical

University, Berlin (Microbiological Research Institute), who was known to

Me as an authority in the field of microbiology. Professor Stahl told me

That the opinion of the Microbiological Research Institute is that the

Kombucha culture is composed of Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Acetobacter

Xylinum.

These constituents are also given by authors worldwide. Dr. Maxim Bing

(1928) gives Bacterium xylinum and the tropical Pombe yeast, as well as

Bact. Xylonoides and gluconicum as constituents in pure cultures. The

First two are given a certain prominence.

Dr. Arauner (1929) confirms this: " The Kombucha culture is not a

Standardized thing, but a fungal consortium of Bacterium xylinum (former

Designation of Acetobacter xylinum) in symbiosis with Pombe yeast. "

Prof. Henneberg (1926 also mentions exactly the same combination in his

Handbook on fermentation bacteriology, and recommends pure cultures of

Both these constituents.

A pure or axenic culture consists of a single type of micro-organism. In

Bacteriology, often only the descendants of one single bacterium cell

(isolation of single-cell colonies) are referred to as a pure culture

(Schön, 1978).

When Prof. Henneberg recommends using pure cultures, he means by that

Nothing more than cultivating both constituent part - Bacterium xylinum

And the Pombe yeast - separately, and only then bringing them together.

Preparing the beverage at home, of course, one has to continue working

With the already combined constituents of the culture.

The sum up, one may say: The principal constituents Schizosaccharomyces

Pombe and Bacterium (Acetobacter) xylinum are both unhesitatingly attested

In the writings of the experts. An exception to this is Wiechowski (1928),

Who considers Bacterium gluconicum to be the principal bacterium and

Bacterium xylinum next in order of importance. Irrespective of these,

Other bacteria and yeasts are mentioned as being constituent elements,

Whose presence however varies.

Our opinions are like our watches.

Nobody's is exactly the same as

Anybody else's, and yet everyone

Believes their own to be right.

Gellert

-- In original_kombucha , " Marjorie Russin "

wrote:

>

> Dear Ones,

>

> No one has cleared up whether we are getting the same KT from the

health foods stores as we are making at home.

>

> If one is acetic acid based and one is lactic acid based, who has

the real Kombucha Tea as handed down for generations?

>

> I wish someone would test them and give us a comp[lete breakdown of

the contents.

>

> If it costs much, maybe we could all chip in.

>

> Blessings on you all. LOve. MArge.

>