Formulation Design and Functional Characterization of a Novel Fermented Beverage with Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory and Antibacterial Properties

Ameni Abdi ¹

Emna Gatri ¹

Pasquale Filannino ²

Sana Mhir ^{1, 3}

Lamia Ayed ¹

Hide authors affiliations

Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LETMi), National Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (INSAT), University of Carthage, BP 676, Tunis 1080, Tunisia

Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70126 Bari, Italy |

Department of Animal Biotechnology, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Beja, University of Jendouba, BP 382, Beja 9000, Tunisia |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2025-02-15

MDPI

Journal: Beverages

scimago Q2

wos Q2

SJR: 0.574

CiteScore: 6.1

Impact factor: 3

ISSN: 23065710

DOI: 10.3390/beverages11010027

Copy DOI

Abstract

The aim of this study was to use different concentrations of lemon juice and honey to improve the formulation of a green tea water kefir (GTWK) beverage by applying a central composite design (CCD). Honey’s concentration was 10–50% and lemon juice concentration was 1–5%, these were used as the independent factors, whereas pH, bacteria and yeasts’ count, total phenolic content, % DPPH. scavenging activity, and overall acceptability were used as the dependent factors. The optimal concentration of honey and lemon juice for highest microbial count, antioxidant activities and overall acceptability was 42.85% and 1.771%, respectively. The analysis of variance revealed that the model was well-fitting, with R2 ranging from 87.27% to 96.95%, adj-R2 ranging from 78.17% to 94.26% and a non-significant lack of fits. The optimized fermented beverage showed antibacterial potential against Echerichia coli ATCC11229, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538 and Salmonella typhimirium ATCC14028 strains. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated on CaCo-2 and RAW 264.7 cells. According to ELISA assay, a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in TNF-α concentration was found after inflammatory stimulation, from 1205.41 ± 55.87 pg/mL to 478.17 ± 69.12 pg/mL.