Kombucha undergoes format innovation to create a benefit-packed powder
After enjoying geographical expansion, prominent health positioning, and entry into the mainstream herbal tea and ready-to-drink (RTD) market, Kombucha is entering its next era一in powder format.
Kombucha has rapidly become the standout success in the global herbal tea market, as health-conscious consumers opt for the functional favorite for its beneficial properties. Yet Kombucha has enjoyed a rich and long history as a popular beverage in Asia.
From 220 BC to today
Fermented tea variety, kombucha, is a two-millennia-old drink. Originating from China, and first used to create alcoholic beverages, kombucha was invented in northeast China around 220 BC.
Traditionally, kombucha is produced from the fermentation of green or black tea by a biofilm called a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY). The biofilm is formed from a symbiosis of acetic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, and osmophilic yeasts inserted into a cellulose network. [1]
Consumed for 2000 years, kombucha has recently become highly sought-after throughout the world. Western celebrities, influencers and now widespread consumers quickly embraced its innovative arrival onto the mainstream herbal tea market for its health and nutritional benefits. Kombucha is good for the gut, contributes to weight loss and thanks to its high content of beneficial probiotics and antioxidants, is also a powerful anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory, detox and antibacterial drink.
Sweetened black or green tea is often used to produce kombucha. However, black and green teas have different phenolic profiles, which impacts their antioxidant capabilities as well as their antibacterial and antiproliferative properties.[2] Black and green variants of herbal tea comprise different properties and therefore boast different benefits.
Black tea kombucha provides a greater diversity and abundance of phenolic compounds, which results in a higher antioxidant capacity. Green tea kombucha offers antibacterial activity against a broader spectrum of bacteria. Its enhanced antibacterial capabilities are likely due to the presence of catechins, an exclusive compound which are among the most abundant phenolic compounds and verbascoside. Thus, the type of tea used to produce kombucha directly affects its bioactive composition and properties.[3] (2)
The role of SCOBY in modern kombucha production
SCOBY is a biofilm of cellulose containing the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. A by-product of kombucha tea fermentation, the yeast in the active ingredient SCOBY eat the sugars in kombucha, transforming them into ethanol. The bacteria feeds on this ethanol, turning it acidic and giving kombucha its distinctively sour taste. The bacteria also feeds on some of the sugars, producing cellulose, which then builds up to form the thick, rubbery SCOBY.
SCOBY is essential to obtain kombucha. It also has a host of inherently beneficial properties. After the black tea liquid is fermented with kombucha using SCOBY, it is very rich in good bacteria, organic acids, tea polyphenols, and flavonoids.
Creating high-profile kombucha powder
Innovative Taiwanese nutra ingredients supplier, MCB, has recently launched its latest kombucha powder product, InstaKOMBUTM. Applying its patented microencapsulated manufacturing process, MCB’s newly-formulated powder contains and preserves kombucha’s multiple actives and showcases the unique flavor of kombucha that consumers have come to know and love. Moreover, InstaKOMBUTM helps to overcome market pain points, such as limited transportation and application, which have become more pronounced amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The kombucha powder, InstaKOMBUTM by MCB, uses high-quality kombucha liquid fermented from small-leaf black tea hand-picked from high in Taiwan’s Alishan mountains (1000 meters above sea level). Once retrieved, it is roasted and brewed to a golden amber and rich tea liquid. The liquid is then fermented for 14 days using a carefully selected food-standard kombucha SCOBY to produce non-alcoholic and high-quality kombucha.
Using its patented fiber microencapsulation technology, MCB applies optimum temperature and pressure to preserve the original flavor and nutritional values, so that InstaKOMBUTM’s high-fiber-encapsulated kombucha powder can be used in different diets and applications to suit a wide variety of consumer needs.
Its technology is also used to spray-dry the kombucha liquid to obtain a powder that retains kombucha’s most original features. The liquid is microencapsulated and spray dried to achieve kombucha powder’s optimum composition: 100% reconstituted kombucha solution, complete with tea polyphenols, flavonoids, organic acids, and SOD-like.
Kombucha of tomorrow, today
InstaKOMBUTM powder, which is distributed in the US market by Faravelli, marks the next generation of kombucha. Kombucha powder is not only can be used for nutraceutical applications such as immunity, gut health, detox, and weight management to enrich market options but also MCB’s powder can be combined with a large range of fiber fruit powders for food and beverage applications like energy drinks, tea, milkshakes, ice-creams, jelly, candies and cookies.
MCB’s SCOBY contains a rich portfolio of probiotics, including Acetobacter aceti, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactobacillus plantarum. Free from food additives and tea flavorings, the high-profile kombucha powder has the familiar and natural aroma of small black tea leaves and the slightly acidic fermented flavor of natural, mild, and non-irritating organic acids.
From fermentation to final powder, the entire supply chain used to produce MCB’s InstaKOMBUTM powder is wholly transparent, providing consumers with a complete understanding of the process and production of their kombucha powder. From 2000 years ago to 2021, kombucha is still proving itself to be the must-have herbal tea drink on the market.
Sources:
Rasu Jayabalan et al. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (2014) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12073
Rodrigo Rezende Cardoso et al. Food Research International (2020) http://www.posnutricao.ufv.br/eng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Kombuchas-from-green-and-black-teas-have-different-phenolic-profile-which1.pdf
[1] Rasu Jayabalan et al. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety (2014) .https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12073
[2] Rodrigo Rezende Cardoso et al. Food Research International (2020) http://www.posnutricao.ufv.br/eng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Kombuchas-from-green-and-black-teas-have-different-phenolic-profile-which1.pdf
[3] Rodrigo Rezende Cardoso et al. Food Research International (2020) http://www.posnutricao.ufv.br/eng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Kombuchas-from-green-and-black-teas-have-different-phenolic-profile-which1.pdf
