Abstract:

Five yeast strains were separated from the kefir milk made in our lab, three of whom were identified as Candida kefyr and two Brettanomyces according to their morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics. A strain of Candida kefyr numbered Y4 presented excellent fermentation properties and therefore could be used as a production strain for kefir milk. After 36 h of culture at 28 ℃ and initial pH 4.5 with inoculation quantity of 3×106 CFU/ml, the number of the viable strain Y4 was up to 6.3 × 107 CFU/ml.

Key words: kefir, yeast, separation and identification, fermentation properties, growth characteristics